Ys 8 - Ambitions of Dana
by DynoStretch
Summary: A continuation of the game Ys 8 that takes place four years after the events of the game. Bonds can be difficult to keep when destiny gets in the way, of it, but for two individuals who have been separated, can that bond be rejoined, and at what possible cost? This is a story of defying what fate dictates and finding one's true happiness. Adol/Dana
1. Chapter 1

_**Howdy-do folks, this is DynoStretch with my newest piece of writing.**_

_**While I found Ys 8 to be an amazing game with amazing gameplay, great characters and rocking music, I couldn't help but feel the plot needed a lot more work then it got, especially with one particular plot twist that took me almost completely out of it, and the bittersweet resolution to Dana's arc didn't really make me feel anything but down about it. So I decided to write this as kind of a way of both cheering me up and entertaining you guys. **_

_**I should also mention I don't remember literally everything about the plot since I played it in many short bursts, it didn't help that Smash Bros came out in the middle of my playtime, so I got distracted by that a lot, so there may be some continuity errors. I'm also not sure if anything that happens in this story would tie into the games themselves, but considering how vague certain details were in the story itself, I think it could be fair game.**_

_**If not, I just say try to enjoy this story for what it is anyway.**_

_**With that said, hope you enjoy!**_

* * *

**Ys 8: Lacrimosa of Dana 2: Ambitions of Dana**

* * *

"Hey Adol, you hearin' me?"

"Huh...?"

A 25 year old young man with fiery red hair looked up from his complimentary bowl of tavern peanuts and turned to see his best friend, a bulky blue haired man grinning widely. Beside him was a lewd-looking woman with a rather noticeably large chest, and beside her was a much more mild mannered and younger woman who was trying not to look at the three directly out of obvious shyness.

"I asked you if you're coming with us for a night on the town! I even found a lady for you, too!"

Adol paused as he took a glance over at the younger girl. She was pretty embarrassed about Dogi's forwardness with trying to set her and Adol up together, and was trying to avoid eye contact. Adol felt rather sorry for her, but he had to admit she was definitely pretty. However, he was more focused on her hair; it was long and blue, just like...

"So you coming with us or not?" Dogi snapped him out of his trance again.

"Uh, no..." Adol said, "You guys just go on ahead. I'm going to stay here for a while longer, then probably just go back to the inn."

"Suit yerself." Dogi said shrugging, he turned to the blue-haired girl and said "Sorry about that, don't take it personally or anything, it's just Adol's been pretty grumpy lately."

The girl either didn't seem to mind or was too shy to say so, and she left as Dogi and the older woman themselves left together, Dogi remembering to add a "See ya tomorrow, Adol!" before he was gone.

"Yeah, have fun with that." Adol said with a casual wave as he started absentmindedly doodling on a cocktail paper, eventually making a crude portrait of a person's face. He stared down at his creation with a heavy heart, as the drawing looked very similar to someone he knew...

"Dana..."

Seeing that girl's blue hair could only remind him of someone from his past, four years ago. He had formed a great bond with a beautiful blue-haired girl named Dana, remarkably through their dreams. They could see each other's worlds and the people they were acquainted with. When the two of them finally met face-to-face, it was like feeling their lives were truly connected. Dana was a girl that Adol had never felt such a connection with in his whole life.

She was the priestess of a religious civilization from many many years in the past, that civilization had been long destroyed before Adol's time, and she was the sole survivor. The two traveled through the remnants of her home to solve the mystery of what happened to it. The answers they found changed a lot of what they knew about the world, and during that time the two of them only grew closer.

Unfortunately that bond could only last for so long, when a terrible disaster fell onto the world, and Dana was forced to make the ultimate sacrifice to stop the destruction of everything. It seemed like just as quickly as she had came into his life she was soon taken away. Instead of dying however, she turned out to have received a blessing from the Earth Goddess Maia, allowing her to reincarnate as the Goddess of Evolution itself, tasked with the responsibility of maintaining the progress of evolution and changing the future for the better. However, this also meant she couldn't be of Adol's world, and left to fulfill her new purpose.

While Adol understood the responsibility she had now, it was a difficult thing to accept. He tried to push that pain of loss out of his mind for the last four years and move on, and while he did manage to do so long enough to go on many more adventures over the past years, he found himself having a more difficult time keeping her out of his mind lately. When Dogi introduced him to a girl that reminded him of Dana it only made it harder.

Adol never held that against Dogi though, he understood his friend didn't remember anything about what happened involving Dana, as her awakening meant her being erased from the timeline of mortal existence. Adol was one of the only ones to actually remember her and what happened due to the bond they forged in each other's dreams and in reality.

Speaking of dreams though, he had found himself unable to naturally dream for the past few years, the exceptions being premonitions sent to him by others. He had a hard time believing it was pure coincidence he couldn't dream normally when he went to sleep, and sometimes it felt like his mind was a complete blank.

He had even gone so far as to visit a doctor on the matter to see if it wasn't just a physical problem from all the head injuries he'd get from adventuring and battle. After turning down the doctor's initial recommendation of overpriced group therapy sessions or prescription medicine that had the potential side effect of irregular bowel movements, the doctor theorized that there was an emotional emptiness within him, possibly brought about by some kind of grief or trauma.

It was at that point he realized what it was, he was grieving over the loss of Dana. He tried to encourage himself not to be sad about her, but it was in reality impossible for him not to be. He hoped that pain would eventually heal over time, but it felt like it just got nothing but worse.

He took a second to glance back down at the napkin he was doodling on, and was surprised to see how much pain-staking detail he had put into the crude little drawing, it looked almost exactly as he remembered his friend. It was then he just gave in and leaned over on the counter, trying and failing to hold back his tears. 

* * *

At the same time in another plane of reality, at a large temple, a blue-haired woman was standing before a crystal ball that resembled the planet Earth. She moved her fingers in such a way that she was able to zoom the focus on the vision of Earth down to a certain country, then from there to a village, then to a tavern bar, where she saw Adol slouched over on the counter. While she couldn't see what exactly was on the napkin he was holding or hear what he was saying, it pained her to see what he was going through.

This was Dana; once the chosen priestess of her civilization, now the Goddess of Evolution, appointed by the Earth Goddess Maia. It was her duty to ensure the mortal world's growth and stability, and to make changes to the future of the world as she felt would be for the best. Despite her newfound godly power, it was a trying job, and she was still learning all her abilities and the responsibilities that came with it.

"Goddess! Are you hearing me?"

Suddenly the blue-haired goddess straightened up with a small yelp and turned towards a tall woman with green hair and a stern expression. This was Olga, Dana's childhood friend and a sworn bodyguard of sorts. Despite being one of the causalities of the destruction of their homeland, Dana was able to use her divine power to bring Olga to her temple to aid her in her work as her guard and adviser.

"Oh, Olga," Dana said with a sheepish smile, "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Honestly..." sighed Olga, putting a hand to her head, "How can you perform your duties if you space out so often?"

"Oh Olga, you're being a little too harsh on her." said another voice, as a black haired woman strolled up beside them. This was Sarai, also a childhood friend of both Dana and Olga. She was once the newly crowned queen of their civilization just before it fell, but now she was an assistant of Dana, aiding her in overseeing the evolution of the world.

"Well someone has to be!" Olga snapped, "Being a goddess isn't like being a mere sales manager or a bathroom custodian, her choices will shape the world as the mortals know it!"

"Why a bathroom custodian as a comparison...?" Sarai wondered to herself.

"It's fine!" Dana said waving her hand dismissively, "I'll be fine. I just needed to check with something on Earth is all."

"Well you should be checking on something else right now, namely the newest creatures you've created are fighting each other to the death." Olga said.

"R-Really?!" Dana exclaimed as she ran off to a balcony of her temple that overlooked a vast garden where various creatures and plants existed. She pinpointed what Olga was talking about and saw two beasts attacking each other, to the point where they were sure enough spilling each other's blood.

"Uh, oops." She used her power to encase the two creatures into small orbs and bring them both to her. She sighed, knowing she'd have to look them both over extensively to see why the two would be so hostile. "I thought they would be okay being herbivores, but I must have done something wrong with their creation."

"You've been distracted lately." Olga said, "Are you positive you're all right?"

"Y-Yes, I'll get to work on figuring out what went wrong with these two soon," Dana said.

"Well, see that you do." nodded Olga, "I'll be taking my leave now, Divine Goddess."

"Aw comeon..." Dana said with a small pout, "You know you can just call me Dana, right? I hoped you would have gotten out of that formality stuff with me."

Olga seemed to hesitate before she spoke, "My place is to serve you and ensure your divine responsibilities are met. I can't bare myself to refer to you as low as a mere servant like me, Goddess." she bowed and started to walk off after that.

"Hmmm..." Dana pondered to herself for a second, before running up behind Olga and quickly grabbing and tickling her sides, causing Olga's eyes to widen and for her to burst out into uncontrollable laughter, before quickly spinning around and glaring at Dana.

"What was that about?!" Olga exclaimed.

"Just wanted to see you smile a bit, Olga!" Dana grinned.

"Hmph... as I said before, I'm taking my leave to see to the other assistants..." Olga muttered, walking off.

Dana sighed and turned to Sarai. "I was hoping she would have loosened up over time, but she just seems more strict then ever."

"Don't take it too badly," said Sarai with a compassionate smile, "I think she just feels she owes you for giving her a new duty after she died, and she's looking out for your well-being."

"I guess..." Dana said.

Sarai couldn't help but look at the sad expression in her eyes, "Is something else wrong?" she asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"It's nothing," said Dana, forcing a smile, "I'm going to go rest for a bit..."

"Okay..." Sarai said, despite her clearly knowing that this was about more then just Olga's stubbornness, but decided to leave it at that for now.

Dana walked back into the room where she kept the crystal ball she used to observe the Earth. She gazed at it, focusing it's view back on Adol, who was now walking towards an inn he was staying at. Before he could enter, a pretty lady came up and spoke to him, Dana watched intently but couldn't hear what they were saying. Adol seemed to shake his head to the girl, causing her to get annoyed and storm off.

While the purpose of the crystal globe was to observe Earth and see how the life on the planet responded to each other and make adjusts in evolution accordingly, she couldn't help herself but to use it to watch over the young man that she forged such a close bond with. She watched his three most recent adventures; rooting for him to succeed, and feeling his victories and failures, as well as enjoying seeing the people he bonded with through those travels he went on.

That said, she had to admit to herself she felt some relief when he turned down women who hit on him. Adol had a charisma that drew people to him, and he had a tendency to break a lot of women's hearts either from his unwillingness or maybe just naivete to treat them as anything but friends. She couldn't help herself, as she had developed such a close bond with him through their dreams and adventures, and the moment just before they separated four years ago, they had shared a close embrace that she could never forget. That bond met everything to her, and she could never forget the things he did for her...

And she had to admit to herself she loved him.

However, that love could never work out now, as she was a goddess, and he was a mortal, the two of them were in two different worlds and could never see each other. While it was a bit of a morbid thought, she could theoretically just wait until his inevitable end of his lifespan to bring him to her world as she did Olga, but she wondered if he would even accept that offer like Olga did, or if he would prefer to just rest in peace... or if he wound up settling down with someone else that he'd then spend his afterlife with...

Dana felt a pain just from that thought alone. There was a small part of her that hoped becoming a goddess would had cleared her mind of human emotions like love so that she couldn't feel a sense of loss like this, but it wasn't so, in fact she felt them stronger then ever now, and it was creating an emptiness in her. Despite her two close friends and her three other assistants to aide her in overseeing her work, she had times when she still felt she was missing something that would make her feel truly complete. She couldn't deny what it was, she missed Adol and wanted to see him again, to talk to him again, to hold him again... but that was an impossibility, as they had no way of even communicating with each other now.

Unless...

A thought occurred to her just at that moment, something that she had never considered before. Maybe it was because her powers weren't as developed until now that she could do something like that, or maybe she was just too distracted with her job to even consider the idea, but it was worth a shot.

Dana went off to a private chamber she used for resting, it was built somewhat similar to her old bedroom from her past. She had created it to help her adjust to her new life, containing a bed, fountain, and a bookshelf. One of the big differences was a large balcony hidden behind her bookshelf that showed off a beautiful sky of clouds and stars above the Realm of Maia, which she'd often go to when she needed to relax.

"Can I really do this?" she thought to herself, "If someone saw it..."

She shook off the doubt and hesitation, took a second to make sure neither Olga or Sarai were around, then concentrated. Energy started to appear from the ground, and up from that energy formed small clear rocks, and those rocks eventually came together become a strange purple-pinkish crystal stone. It was a replica of an object that she used back on her homeland which allowed her to see into Adol's world and Adol to see into hers.

"It worked!" she said, with almost too much enthusiasm. She quickly shut herself up and focused on the crystal, attempting to link it to Adol's mind. "The only way for this work though, is if he would truly want this..." she considered. "I'll just have to try."

"Please Adol..." 

* * *

Adol had just slumped into his inn room and fallen onto his bed. The fact that Dogi was still gone was a good sign he was still busy with his new 'friend' and he wasn't coming back for now. He didn't mind, he was at least happy that Dogi was enjoying himself. Adol buried his face in his pillow and sighed into it, before flipping onto his back and staring up at the ceiling. In some effort to try and get to sleep, he started counting the amount of knotholes in the wood that made up the ceiling.

Running out of knots, his thoughts went right back to Dana, and that emptiness he was feeling. He couldn't keep denying it, he had to see her again. He started thinking back to the last time they saw each other, before she disappeared, something that no one else heard... 

* * *

_Flashback_

"So this is it then, Dana?"

"Yes Adol, thank you so much for everything you've done... and I'll never forget you... Farew-"

"Wait, before you finish that, you need to promise me something!"

"Eh? What?"

"I want you to promise not to say 'farewell' to me."

"Huh...? Why not?"

"Because I never say 'farewell' to anyone I want to see again. I don't care what I need to do, someday we'll meet again!"

"Adol... I'm pretty sure that's impossible now."

"Hey, if you hadn't noticed, I'm the kind of guy who can do the impossible!"

"Ah-ha-ha, yes you really have! Hm... okay, but what should I say then?"

"How about just, 'See you later.'?"

"...all right then! See you later, Adol..."

* * *

Adol laid back in bed, remembering those words. As reassuring as it was at the time, he found himself beginning to doubt what he said those four years ago, could he truly see her again, speak to her again, to hold her again? He started to grow tired, and his eyes shut, and muttered the only thing on his mind in that moment...

"I wish I could see you again, Dana..." 

* * *

Suddenly, Adol opened his eyes. Looking around, all he could see was he was on the balcony of some kind of temple. He looked up to see a brilliant display of stars and clouds overhead, it looked almost unworldly. There were strange trees he had never seen before stretching up from below, and strange animals flying by. He was frankly at a loss for words of where he had ended up.

"The hell...? Am I dreaming, or did I just eat some bad peanuts?"

It was then he heard a soft voice that snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Adol?"

Adol's eyes widened, he felt a sensation he hadn't in a long time. He quickly turned around to see a familiar face he didn't think he'd ever see again. Very faint tears started to form in his eyes as well as hers, as he said just one name at that moment.

"Dana?"

* * *

_**Well that was Chapter 1. While I do think I could just end the story here, I want to do a bit more with it, as I have more ideas and themes to this story that I want to tell. **_

_**I'm also aware this story might have started off a bit too much on the angstsy side, but I can assure you the next chapter will have a much lighter tone, since that's really what I set out to do with this story in the first place.**_

_**So look forward to it! (I hope...)**_


	2. Chapter 2

**_Here we go with Chapter 2!_**

* * *

"Dana?"

The adventurer warrior Adol just paused, staring at the girl before him. She was shaking ever-so slightly, had faint tears in her eyes, and her hands to her chest, a look of shock and happiness on her face.

"Adol, it's really you..." she muttered as the tears started to fall from her eyes. She then went running right at the red-head and threw her arms around him in a hug. "Adol!"

Adol was almost knocked over by the velocity of Dana's hug, but he retained his footing and found himself hugging her back on impulse.

"Dana... what are you doing her- or what am I...?!" Adol stammered. He was gobsmacked at seeing his friend again, and did what he could to hold back his own tears of happiness, as he tightened the hug. The two had no words at that immediate point, they just held each other for what felt like forever.

Eventually Dana released the hug and took a step back, while keeping her hands on his shoulders. "Adol, it's so great to see you again!"

"Same here," he replied, "But... how did this even happen? A minute ago I was in bed and now..."

"It's because of that," Dana said, gesturing to he purple crystal in the center of the balcony. "Look familiar?"

"It's one of those... crystal thingies we used to use to see into each other's worlds." Adol remarked.

"Uh huh." she said nodding with a big smile on her lips, "I created one that's capable with tapping into your dreams to bring your consciousness into my world!"

"My consciousness?" Adol repeated in confusion, looking down at himself, "You mean I'm not actually here?"

"No, your body is still at the inn, sleeping soundly. This was the best I could do within my own power at the moment." Dana explained.

"Well it sounds a bit weird, but whatever works." Adol said shrugging, mainly just happy that the two were reunited.

It was then at that moment the two of them realized they were still holding each other and pulled their arms back, both blushing red at how natural it was for them to be so close like that.

* * *

"So where exactly is this place?" asked Adol, as the two sat on a bench, watching the mystical clouds and stars spiraling through the sky.

"We're in my home, the Temple of Evolution, in the Realm of Maia, it's one of three realms belonging to the major gods of our universe. Each realm has many different gods and goddesses who represent various objects and beliefs; from people to plants to elements to the concepts of emotion and law." Dana explained.

"Huh, for some reason I was under the impression the gods were more of just formless beings or concepts or something symbolic-y like that." Adol said taking a second to knock on the bench, "Even though I'm apparently just a consciousness or something, everything I'm seeing and feeling is like in my world."

"There's a lot of secrets the gods like to keep for obvious reasons, I'm still pretty new to all this myself, and there's plenty of things I still don't get..." she said with a nervous smile while scratching her cheek.

"Well you figured out a way to bring me here despite everything we were told, so you must be getting the hang of it somewhat." Adol pointed out, "So what exactly is it you do here anyway?"

The two of them spent the whole night talking to each other; Dana told him of the work she did and what she hoped to do in the future, while Adol told her of his various adventures he went on over the past four years, including his latest adventure at a prison city. Dana listened enthusiastically to everything Adol said, despite the fact she had actually watched many of his adventures from her crystal globe. It wasn't so much the story he was telling she took interest in, but the way he told it from his perspective, well that and the poses he did to emphasize the impact of his story, which was very entertaining in and of itself.

"So, uh, are those other guys here?" Adol asked looking around, "The chosen ones before you?"

"Yep," she said, "They take to watching over various aspects of the evolutionary process for me. I can really only do so much at a time, so they'd been a great help. I even brought my friend Olga to help me with everything as my adviser."

"Oh yeah, I remember seeing her in your past, glad to hear that." Adol nodded, looking left and right, "You think I could meet them sometime?"

"I... um... wouldn't advise doing that." Dana said, looking suddenly distant for a second, "Especially not Olga, I don't think she'd approve of this."

"Why not? Aren't you the boss around here?" Adol inquired.

"As far as the Temple of Evolution goes, yes." Dana nodded, "But this realm has many laws that exist to keep the younger gods like myself in line, including a lot of new ones that have been imposed on us just recently. I think I'm actually... kinda... sorta... taking a bit of a risk in summoning you here. They don't like us directing interacting with mortals these days..." she said in a small meek voice as she poked her fingers together.

"O-Oh, are you sure I should even be here then...?" Adol asked nervously for Dana's sake, continuing to look around only to see nothing but a random butterfly flapping around.

"No, no, it's fine." Dana said reassuringly, "We're plenty secluded, and Olga knows this is my rest time, so she won't find out."

"Rest time? That's kind of odd... I didn't think a god even needed to rest," Adol said leaning back, folding his arms behind his head, "Didn't you get omnipotent power to go with your job or something?"

"Well yeah, but I'm just getting used to my goddess powers, and managing all the life cycles and designing the routes of evolution takes a lot out of me for right now." Dana said with a sigh.

"Jees, sounds like a lot of responsibility." he said sympathetically and regretfully, "Kinda makes me wish I was here to help you with it..."

"N-No," she said blushing lightly, her spirits lightened a little from hearing him say that, "Honestly, I would had loved to have you here Adol, but right now you have a life to live on Earth. Adventuring is a passion for you, and I wanted you to live your life to the fullest..." Dana said, then sported a little teasing grin, "Besides, you'd probably be bored to tears without a dungeon to explore or a monster to fight!"

"Hey, it's not like that's all I do with my life!" Adol said, rolling his eyes.

The rest of the night continued like that, many stories, questions and jokes were told. The two of them couldn't stop smiling and laughing, it was like four years of grief and emptiness were whisked away in just a single night.

Just when it seemed the two were winding down from their talking, Dana noticed something was happening to Adol.

"Hey Adol...?" she spoke up, gesturing to his hand.

"Huh...? What's happening?!" asked Adol, looking down and seeing in shock that his hands were becoming see-through.

"...It seems you're waking up." Dana realized with a slightly sad smile.

"Waking up?" he suddenly remembered his situation and looked desperately at Dana, "W-Will I ever see you again?!"

"Yes," Dana said nodding, "As long as we both wish to see each other again, I'll see to it we can meet here as often as you want."

"...okay then." Adol said, a little more calm now, "So... the same time tomorrow night then?"

"Of course," Dana said, "And... you know, see you later." she added with a little wink.

"Alright, see you later then." Adol said grinning, as his consciousness vanished before Dana's eyes.

"I better get back to work before Olga starts looking for me." She sighed lightly, before standing up and going through the secret door back to her room, she stopped for a second to look back at the purple crystal and smiled lightly, closing the shelf up to hide her resting place.

* * *

Adol slowly opened his eyes, seeing the wooden ceiling with the twenty-three knotholes, letting him know he was back in the inn. He sat up, rubbing his head in confusion of what had just happened.

"I met with Dana...?" he realized, "Was... was that all real...?" he thought for a short while, recalling the stories they told each other, "Yeah, it was, I really did get to see Dana again..." he let himself fall backwards on the bed again and smiled warmly. "It's like a miracle..."

"Cough! Cough! Braaaggghhh!"

His moment of peace was swiftly interrupted by a familiar coughing and vomiting coming from their bathroom.

"Guess Dogi made it back in one piece... sorta." he said rolling his eyes, climbing out of bed and putting on his clothes.

Dogi meanwhile came staggering out of the bathroom in a groggy state. "Ugh, damn lady..." he muttered, "Goes'nd gets me good an' druk and then takes mah whallet..." he staggered forward towards his own bed but instead fell and collapsed on the floor.

"Dis bed is really hard." Adol could hear from the floor.

"Alright, come on you lug." sighed Adol, reaching down and helping his friend up to his feet, "Sounds like you spent less time hanging out with your lady friend and more time with your buddies Bourbon and Vodka."

"Har har," Dogi muttered, "Yer a riot ya red bastard."

Adol replied by unceremoniously dropping him down on the bed, before going to do some morning journal writing. Some time later Adol got Dogi some water and forced him to drink it down.

"Okay Dogi, so what was this about you 'whallet'?" Adol asked.

"Ugh, that lady with the huge rack I went out with last night swiped my money when I was too drunk to notice..." he replied groaning.

"This is why I tell you to lay off the booze, your liver would thank you for it." Adol said sternly.

"Yes, mom." Dogi muttered.

"Well I guess I'll pay for the whole inn fee this time, but you owe me for this." Adol said, reaching into his bedside drawer to get his coin purse.

"Um... actually, about that..." Dogi said in slight panic.

Adol just paused for a few seconds, looking in his drawer, his facial features were starting to darken.

"Dogi... where's my money?" Adol asked in a cold voice.

"It's funny you say that..." he said trying to sport a big sheepish grin, "I kinda... uh, 'borrowed' your money to get that lady to go with me last night..."

"So in other words we're both broke." Adol said, slowly moving towards Dogi, gripping his sword in it's sheath while his face was darkened, one of his eyes gleamed with eerie light as he stared down at his friend.

"Well... see.. uh, that's not the funny part." Dogi said nervously, "What's really funny is I knocked over an expensive vase on the way into the inn lobby, and the innkeeper added it to our bill, so we kinda owe him a little bit of a lot of a ton of more money...?"

Dogi then saw Adol unsheathe his sword and gulped, "Uh, can we talk this over...?"

At that point several people staying at the inn could hear a grown man screaming for his life while at the same time another person was shouting "Blade Rush!" over and over.

* * *

"Well we're in even further debt now after we trashed the inn..." Dogi sighed as he and Adol walked down the village road.

"No problem, we're just going to have to find work for you to do to cover it..." muttered Adol in thought as he was looking around for job opportunities.

"Me?! Yer the one that slashed up the inn!" Dogi shouted.

"And you're the one that lost all our money in the first place!" Adol shot back.

Dogi paused, cleared his throat and said, "Now's not the time to point fingers. We need to find work to save our asses."

"Fine, fine." Adol said, "Let's see if there's a job board around here somewhere. Hopefully something about exploring somewhere, or destroying a monster or saving a kid or stopping a demonic cult or..."

"Hmm, did something good happen to you last night?" asked Dogi, "You seen like you got back your enthusiasm today!"

"Yeah, guess you can say that." Adol said smiling, thinking about his time with Dana, "Now come on, let's go job hunting!"

"Alright, I'm pumped!" Dogi said, seconds before his face paled, "Just a second." he then ran over to a barrel to puke directly into it.

"Hey, my apples!" shouted a merchant.

Adol just sighed and facepalmed.

* * *

"So you're both stuck in that village until you pay off the debt then?" Dana asked Adol that night after he fell asleep.

"Yeah, we're scrambling to find any work that'll take us." Adol groaned, "Right now I'm sleeping on some flour bags at a grocery store stock room."

"Sounds pretty rough." Dana said, trying and failing not to giggle.

"Thank you for the sympathy." Adol said sarcastically. He seemed be in deep thought for a second and then turned to ask, "Hey, do you think you could use your powers to loan me some cash to pay off our debt?"

"Huh?"

"You know, like, um... evolution us some money?"

"Why do you think my powers can do that?" Dana asked with a drop of sweat going down her head.

"Heck, I don't know, I'm desperate!" he said, falling back against the bench.

As he laid back, a butterfly decided to take that time to land down on his forehead. Dana just stared at him with a bit of a grin, rather then trying to shoo it off, she decided to wait to see how long it would take for him to notice it.

"So where do you think you're going to go after you get out of this mess with the debt?" she asked.

"I was thinking of us heading to the far east actually, they say there's places with strange creatures like ghostly umbrellas, lanterns with tongues and little red cats that breathe fire, not mentioned a great wall that stretches over thousands of miles!" Adol said, pumping up his fist, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Wow, that sounds really neat!" Dana said, "You really have some great adventures don't you? You always have such great stories to tell..." her tone seemed a little distant as she spoke.

"Sounds like you got something on your mind," Adol said, noticing her tone, "What's up?"

"Oh, it's nothing, I just, uh..." she glanced to the side, looking for the right words to say, "I just wonder what it would be like to do something like that myself."

"Hmm?" Adol's interest peaked at hearing that.

"Well you see, despite everything we went through at my homeland, I really had a great time traveling with you and our friends." she said, "I've never got to experience anything outside of the island I lived on when I was growing up, it wasn't until I came to your time, and later when I got my crystal globe that I really got to see how amazing the world itself really is!" Dana said.

"So you're saying you want to go adventuring?" Adol asked with a knowing grin.

"I don't know, maybe..." she said with a small smile, "It's one thing to see the world through that globe, but I think I would love to feel and experience the world like you and Dogi do."

"Well in that case, have you ever thought of just going?" Adol asked, "Dogi may not remember you, but I bet I can convince him to let you come with us on our adventures!"

"It... it sounds great, but I could never do that; I'm bound here in the Realm of the Gods, I don't think I even have the power or authority to leave if I wanted to..." she said, her cheery mood seemed to be quickly diminishing, "Besides, I have a responsibility to keep here, it's not something I can just ignore..."

Adol stared at her, he couldn't help but feel sympathetic towards her situation. She seemed like she was okay with her new life, but at the same time...

"...Dana, I- wait, why's my forehead tickling?"

She glanced down and saw Adol finally realize he had a butterfly on his forehead and shooed it off, causing her dampen mood to perk right back up as she started laughing. Her laughter was clearly contagious, as Adol started laughing out loud as well.

Eventually the laughter subsided, and the two went back to their casual chat.

"So if you did ever get the chance to go adventuring, where would you want to go?" Adol asked.

"Well," Dana started, "For one I'd like to meet up with all our old friends from the island, then I'd like to see all the different countries the world has, and their people, learn of their ways personally..."

As Dana went on and on, Adol couldn't help but grin at how enthusiastic she was about the idea of adventuring. He could definitely see she had a similar spark to himself. Perhaps it was due to the growing bond the two developed over time, and rekindled recently.

"Adol?" Dana asked, "You okay?"

"Oh, yeah, sure." Adol nodded.

The two of them resumed watching up at the sky, seeing that butterfly from earlier fly overhead. After a few moments, Dana slightly leaned over and rested her head on Adol's shoulder. There were no words that needed to be said at that moment between them, the two just spent their night like that. 

* * *

**_Okay, so that's chapter 2 then. I definitely feel like I had more fun writing this chapter. Be prepared for the next one coming soon!_**


	3. Chapter 3

**_And now on to chapter 3, this is where things are going to get a little more interesting._**

* * *

The weeks went by quickly for Adol, during his waking time he was working odd-jobs with Dogi to pay off their debts, it ranged from part time stock jobs in stores, cleaning and repairing people's houses, running errands for folks, or chasing escaped farm chickens. Since they were on a budget, they often had to improvise on sleeping and eating expenses, resorting to wild fruits or hunting outside of town for food, and using hay or flour bags for sleeping.

At night however, no matter how bad the day had been or how uncomfortable the bed he was sleeping on was, he would always find himself in Dana's temple, spending hours with her; talking, joking around, the occasional quarrel or two, and even at times they'd spar with makeshift weapons. It was beneficial to Dana as well, as she spent her days working hard on her duties to maintain the steady and gradual flow of evolution in the world, but always found some time to spend with Adol when he showed up.

That bond they shared just grew more and more, and the emptiness they both felt for so long was going away. It was like despite how they were separated in different worlds, they were closer then ever now.

* * *

"Okay, I'm going to check on the animals." Dana told Olga and Sarai, "Let me know if anything comes up!"

Her two childhood friends watched as she happily skipped off to the creature garden.

"The Goddess of Evolution is skipping..." said Olga sweatdropping.

"I'm really happy for Dana," smiled Sarai, "I was worried about her for the longest time with all the expectations she has, but it seems she's doing much better these days!"

"I suppose," said Olga, "But I'm curious what brought about this enthusiasm... as far as I know nothing's different at all with the Lady Goddess' tasks."

"To be perfectly honest..." Sarai said, watching her blue-haired friend go on her way, "I think she might be in love."

"L-Love?!" exclaimed Olga in shock, "Are you serious?!"

"It's a look I've seen her make back when she was traveling with that young man on our old island." Sarai said smiling, "I can tell she's thinking about him."

"W-Well either way, I wish the Goddess would focus on her priories," said Olga.

"Oh, just let her enjoy herself!" Sarai said in annoyance, "And try calling her Dana once in a while!"

"I can't do that, and frankly I don't think you should speak of our goddess so casually either." Olga said, "The gods in this realm are highly prideful, and if they see the Goddess' assistants speaking to her like some chummy bar friends they would only think less of her."

"I think you're worrying about it too much Olga, I know you feel like you have a duty to protect Dana but don't take it too far or you'll just be smothering her. She's a big girl now, she can take care of herself."

"...fine, I'll let it go for now..." Olga sighed and walked off.

* * *

Olga decided to take a short walk outside of the Temple of Evolution to patrol the area and observe what the other god's servants were speaking of. Her growing concerns for her Goddess' safety was at an all time high, and as she walked down the road, she overheard two servants chatting that only made things worse in her mind.

"So did you hear about Athalina, the goddess of weaving, that she was caught turning mortals who claimed they were better weavers then her into half-spider people?"

"Oh yes, the Divine Justice Counsel showed her no mercy from what I've heard. They've been coming down very strict on gods and goddesses these past few years, and they don't tolerate any kind of direct interference with humans. Why she might even be facing the punishment of demonization!"

Olga froze as she continued to overhear the two gossiping.

"My, that would be horrible, imagine being turned into a mindless monster and used as either a war beast or a guard dog to guard an artifact for a dungeon. That's one of the cruelest punishments they do here!"

"Speaking of artifacts, I've also heard the Justice Counsel is investigating into some kind of black market that's selling powerful dark relics that allow such direct influence on mortals, things like transformation, mind control, all other kinds of things to fool with them!"

"Do you think Athalina used one of the dark artifacts to punish those mortals?"

"I wouldn't put it past her honestly, she's such a young and inexperienced goddess, it was probably inevitable she'd get into a situation like this!"

Olga continued walking back towards the Temple of Evolution, unable to get the gossip she just heard out of her head.

"I-It's fine..' Olga said to herself, "That kind of thing couldn't happen to Da- my goddess. She's a smart person who would never do anything to break the rules of this realm..."

* * *

Olga eventually arrived back into Dana's temple and saw her goddess happily going around keeping herself busy with work. She shook her head to clear those nagging thoughts in the back of her mind away and went to speak to her.

"Goddess, I wanted to spe- what are you doing?" Olga asked when she got a closer look at what Dana was up to.

Dana looked from her work, where was taking a model of a baby pig, and sticking bird wings on it.

"Oh hi Olga, isn't it cute? I thought maybe in the future pigs should be airborne!" Dana said as she spun her hand around, bringing the model of the piglet to life, and it proceeded to fly around freely through the temple, flapping it's wings and making happy little squeals.

'C-Cute...' Olga genuinely thought to herself, before shaking her head to clear her thoughts and get back to her concern. "Goddess, please hear me out." said Olga, trying her best not to watch the cute little piglet flying around.

"What is it Olga? And seriously, you can just call me Dana." she said.

"...Lady Goddess." Olga started, causing Dana to roll her eyes, "I just came to speak to you about some recent events going around in the Realm of Maia. Namely that gods and servants are being arrested over illegal activities, like attempting to interfere with the lives of mortals."

"O-Oh, is that so?" asked Dana, "We're not in trouble or anything are we...?"

"Well no, but..."

"Then, it's okay!" Dana said with some relief, "Thanks Olga for looking out for me, but I'll be fine."

"...very well then," Olga said, turning and leaving Dana to her work. Dana however, after a while felt a bit of unease about what Olga said to her...

* * *

That night, Adol and Dana were spending time together again at her hidden balcony. They sat at their bench watching the sky as Adol told her the story that happened to him that day.

"Is that so?" asked Dana laughing, "Dogi really did that to an angry customer?"

"Yeah, and the store jacked up our debt just for that..." Adol sighed.

"Wait, debt with the store? Weren't you in debt with the inn?" she asked.

"Well yes, and yes." Adol groaned.

"Oh, I see, you're having a difficult time then..." Dana said, catching on to what he was getting at.

"That's an understatement."

Dana just looked up at the cloud and stars, as well as some of her insect creations flying around, as Olga's words about interfering with mortals echoed in her head. She turned to her friend and spoke up.

"Hey Adol?"

"What's up?" he asked.

"You remember what I said about the laws of this realm?"

"Yeah, you mentioned they're pretty strict on anyone, even gods."

"Do, you think what we're doing right now is wrong?" she asked with a hint of nervousness.

"What, you mean just me being here?" he asked, "I don't mind it at all."

"I know you don't, but... We are still technically violating the law of the Divine Justice Counsel and... well..." she trailed off, not sure of what to say from there.

"Oh really? Well if what we're doing right now is a rule violation, it sure sounds like a lousy rule." he casually commented.

"Maybe, but I can also see the reason why they impose these rules. There are many cruel people in the world who would do anything to gain godly power, you've told me a lot about that in your adventures."

"Well I can't argue with that, but I don't think in our case we're doing anything really wrong." he said, "All we're doing is enjoying each other's company, as far as I'm concerned we're just fine."

"But..."

"Listen Dana," Adol interrupted, "I'd had a feeling this would eventually bother you, and there's something I've been meaning to tell you."

"What is it?" she asked.

"The whole time I've seen into your past through our dreams back on Seiren Island, it seemed like even when you were a child you were constantly having things being put on you, becoming the chosen one... working so hard to fit that role... that day you had to sacrifice your life to save the world from being destroyed..." his voice sounded noticeably strained as he said that last part, "...and even now after all that, you were basically obligated into becoming a goddess to ensure the world stays intact."

"I-I don't know if I would call it a obligation but..." she started, but trailed off again. In some ways, it did kind of feel like something she had no choice but to do, since the alternative would had been far worse. She was happy to go through with it in the end, though as it turned out she stil had many regrets as well, namely being separated from Adol like they had.

"Well my point is your whole life you've done nothing but sacrifice yourself for the sake of everyone else, and I just wonder, why can't you do something for yourself for once?"

"For myself?" she parroted Adol's words.

"You've spent your whole life working hard to make everyone happy, and that's really admirable and all, but what about your own happiness?" he asked.

"Well..." she thought for a bit, she had to admit the idea of traveling the world, seeing and interacting with new places and people, making new friends, and most importantly, truly being with Adol, it sounded amazing. She found herself smiling lightly just from thinking about it.

But then reality kicked in, she held back and said, "W-Well, really I don't need to be happy for myself, my happiness comes fro-"

"Wait." Adol said, holding up his hand in front of her with an annoyed look on his face, "You're not going to say something like..." his eyes suddenly lit up and sported a bizarrely goofy smile on his face, bringing his arms up to his chest and saying, "I make everyone else s happiness my own happiness!" in an obnoxiously high pitched voice.

"Hey, I don't sound like that!" said Dana in an annoyed huff, partially for the mocking tone, and partially because he knew exactly what she was going to say.

"Look, I of all people know the good feeling you get doing things for others and making them happy. It's one of the reasons why I like adventuring," he said, "But I also find lots of time to just do something for myself as well. If all you do is spend your whole life working so hard for others, while never finding time for yourself... Well, I just think it just feels painful and self-destructive on your well-being."

"I guess... maybe..." Dana admitted, fiddling with her fingers, "But I have a responsibility here at this temple, I don't have the same freedom as you Adol, and I could never abandon my work."

"Aren't you kind of doing that right now though?" he asked, "You brought me here despite some kind of law about interfering with mortals or something?"

"Yes, but..." Dana started to say something to him, something she wanted to say for a long time, but stopped herself, "I-I looked down at you that day and saw your sadness, I did this so I could... console you and help you with whatever your grief was... I... would never do something like-"

"See, there you go again, trying to make it sound like everything you do can only be for others!" sighed Adol, feeling like he was repeating himself, "Dana, you've already sacrificed everything for the world, I'm just saying that... that..." he leaned back and looked at a lone butterfly separating from the insects flying overhead and landing on the edge of the balcony, before flying upwards it's own way.

"I think everyone, even a goddess, deserves to be a little selfish once in awhile."

Dana's eyes widened, looking at Adol. She had never heard anyone tell her something like that in her life. As a priestess, she was always encouraged to work hard for others, and that her purpose was for the benefit of the world as a whole. Having someone tell her now that she should think to do things for herself was like a foreign concept. It made her think of her friends Olga and Sarai, who also spent their lives for the purpose of others, and while they did try to find time for themselves, those moments were rare and had to be cherished as much as possible.

But was that truly all that they could be allowed to have in their lives?

Dana glanced back over at Adol, who was still watching the sky, she couldn't help but admire his simple way of thinking. She admired so much about him in general really; his courage, his compassion, his heroism, and yet despite his drive he was able to find time to find simple pleasures in life as well.

It was no doubt she loved him.

Dana was hesitant to do something right then, but then made a mischievous smile and suddenly lounged forward, wrapping her arms around him and leaning against him.

"H-Hey, what're you doing?" Adol asked with a light blush

"Hee hee, I'm just being a little selfish." she said with a small smile.

Adol started wrestling to get her off of him, and this led to the two of them poking and shoving each other playfully, until they feel over onto the grass. The crimson fighter and the goddess of evolution found themselves locked in a mighty wrestling war, trying to overpower the other; rolling around on the grass, almost hitting a butterfly, Adol's head bonking into the bench, the two of them laughing and screaming the whole while. At that point their separate lives and tasks were meaningless, it was just an all-out attack between two close friends with an inseparable bond.

Eventually the two came to a stop, with Adol pinning Dana down on the ground by her arms.

"Ha, I've conquered a goddess!" Adol bragged, "I told you I could do the imposs-"

He stopped when he looked down and saw Dana; despite her divine power, she was breathing slowly from exhaustion, looking up at Adol with her face blushing red. He took that chance to absorb everything about her in that moment, the long wavy blue hair that he could never forgot, her emerald green eyes, that smooth silky face, an alluring figure... she was just as beautiful as back when they first met, and not even becoming a goddess could improve on the perfection she had, and his eyes drew themselves to her lips and how inviting they looked in the heat of the moment.

"Adol, I..." she whispered, not sure of what to do with herself at that moment.

"Dana..." he replied, as he found himself slowly moving down, as his lips came mere inches from hers...

"What the hell is going on here?!"

The two of them suddenly jerked up from the moment to see who just spoke, and they saw Dana's friend and adviser Olga standing there. Olga had been doing her patrol rounds in the temple when she heard the voice of Dana laughing and screaming and ran into her personal chamber to see to her safety, only to find the secret door behind the bookshelf and what was hiding behind it.

"O-Oh Olga!" Dana said, trying to hide Adol's consciousness behind her and smiling innocently "How are you doing?"

"Never mind me Goddess, just what is that?!" she asked, pointing directly at Adol.

"Oh, it's a... um..." she started, she looked behind them for a distraction and said, "You mean that butterfly? It was just wandered in here, isn't it pretty?"

"Hm, yes, I suppose it is- wait a minute!" shouted Olga, quickly correcting herself, "I'm talking about that man behind you, is that a mortal?!"

"Um..." Dana muttered, as she thought quickly before she turned to Adol and said, "Lost spirit, I can see you've lived a painful existence, but you're at peace now, so depart from this realm and rest." she put her hands together and did a slight bow to him.

Catching on quickly, Adol said in an overly dramatic voice "Oh yes, bless you ever so much divine goddess, I will truly be able to rest for eternity now. So looonnnggg!" as he faded away, in reality back to the pile of hay he was using for a bed back on Earth.

Dana sighed as she turned to Olga, who was looking positively enraged.

"Lady Goddess, how could you even think of something like bringing a mortal to this realm! Do you not remember what I said before about mortals craving the power of the gods?!" she shouted, her body trembling from anger and a slight bit of fear.

"But Adol would never do tha-!" Dana started, then quickly realizing she just blew her secret.

"Adol?" Olga asked, "So that was the boy who aided you back on Seiren Isle that you told me about?"

"Yes..." Dana admitted, "But that wasn't his true form, it was just his consciousness, I was merely contacting him through his dreams, similar to how we used to." She gestured to the purple crystal.

"Still, I don't trust him," said Olga flatly, "How can you know he isn't just trying to learn the secrets of the realm of the gods so he could gain power for himself?!"

"Hey, I do trust him, and he would never do something like that!" Dana shouted, "He's been suffering so much over the past years, I've... been doing what I can to console him!"

"He's a single mere mortal, his life means nothing compared to the needs of the world as a whole." said Olga, her brow furthered. She hated talking down to her goddess and friend like this, however it was a necessity to bring her goddess to reality.

"But I was..." Dana hesitated, she almost wanted to tell Olga she also did it for herself as well, but had trouble admitting it to her in that awkward moment.

"...but that's not my greatest concern." Olga said, "Imagine what would happen if the Divine Justice Counsel found out what you were doing. It may just be through dreams, but you're still directly interfering with a mortal's life, and the consequences for such actions could be dire."

"...I-I should be fine," Dana said, turning away from Olga's intimidating gaze, "We haven't been caught yet, if we did I'd already be in trouble with them."

"You've been caught by me now," Olga pointed out, "I care about you too much to report you to the Divine Counsel, but I can't say the same if someone else were to discover what you're doing."

"Olga, you worry too much, we'll be alright..." Dana said.

"Fine," Olga sneered, "Do whatever you wish, I'll be taking my leave now!" she then said, storming off.

Dana just stood there, staring at ground, then looked over at the purple crystal, where the small butterfly was now perched on top of. Her thoughts drifted to what Olga said about the well-being the world... but then to what Adol told her about finding her own happiness... and she put a hand to her chest with a heavy stare in her eyes.

"What should I do...?"

* * *

"This is ridiculous!" exclaimed Olga, going down a temple hallway, "With the Divine Justice Counsel going after so many gods, it won't be long before Da- my Lady Goddess gets caught harboring that mortal!"

Olga took a moment to stop and think about their past together, how Olga spent her life as one of the hopeful chosen priestesses, and when Dana was the one of the three picked she couldn't help but fell a little disappointed in herself for losing, but felt pride for Dana being chosen. Granted it turned out being chosen for this task wasn't as great as she thought it would had been, but during that time Olga swore to ensure Dana was able to fulfill her duties. When the disaster befell their civilization, and Olga's life was lost in the chaos, she thought she had lost all purpose, and was too restless to be able to move on, even in death.

Then after what seemed like eons, she was called by Dana, who had just been arisen as the Goddess of Evolution. It was a joyous occasion to see her again, as well as Sarai, the three friends reuniting even after their mortal lives were over. When Dana asked her to stand by her side as her personal adviser along with Sarai, Olga was quick to agree, vowing to devote her life to her. Olga had to admit to herself overtime that she didn't like having to treat Dana so much as a goddess rather then her childhood friend, but it was a necessity to ensure Dana's work be brought to fruition.

But now that Dana was risking her future by meeting with that mortal, Olga knew she had to do something. Even if it meant making Dana truly sad, she knew it would be for the best.

The question was, what could she possibly do? She thought deeply into anyway she could stop the meeting with her goddess and the mortal. The purple crystal seemed to be how they were communicating, and she could theoretically try to destroy it, but Dana could easily just make another one. The only way she could think to stop their meetings was to make them not want to-

It was then it hit Olga, and her thoughts went back to what Sarai had said some time ago... 

* * *

_Flashback_

"I think she might be love. It's a look I've seen her make back when she was traveling with that young man back on our island. I can tell she's thinking about him." 

* * *

It was clear that the two loved each other, and that was the thing making her goddess go out of her way to meet with him, despite the dangers of the law. It was then she had an idea to stop this dangerous situation. She hated to have to do it, and it would be a great risk for herself as well, but she would do anything for Dana's best interests.

"I'll protect my Lady Goddess no matter what." she assured herself, and set off to work on her plan. 

* * *

Later on in the night, Olga was draped in a cloak, walking through a darker part of the Realm of Maia. Where some of the shadier and craftier gods of things like mischief or greed took residence. It was generally not advised for other gods or their servants to mingle with these ones, but some would take the risk for the thrill of danger, or maybe even something else...

She walked into a dark alleyway where she looked around, hoping to find the contact she had made a while ago.

"Hello there, do you know what time it is?" asked a shady voice, she turned to see another cloaked being, this one much shorter and hunched over, with a pointy nose sticking out of the cloak. Olga could see a toothy grin as well that unnerved her, but she said what she needed to.

In the realm of gods, the time of day that mortals would relay on actually had very had little meaning, but Olga answered the question anyway. "It's... um... 11:12 pm." she said, despite the actual time being a good 5 hours and twenty minutes later then that, but there was a reason why she had to say that.

"So you're the client then." chuckled the shady fellow, "Pleased to meet you, you can just call me Lokki. Oh, and sorry about the password, but we have to keep secrecy around here for fear of the Divine Counsel coming after the black market."

"I'm well aware of that." Olga said, "Now do you have what I asked for?"

"Oh yes," he said, reaching into his sleeve and pulling out a crystal ball. It somewhat resembled Dana's crystal globe she used to monitor Earth, only it was much smaller and a darker color.

"Ah, very good..." Olga said, then thought to herself, 'Lady Goddess... please forgive me for what I'm going to do...' 

* * *

**_Well there's chapter 3, things are going to start heating up in the story. Dana's starting to see things in a new way thanks to Adol, and their relationship is getting closer then ever, but what could this new turn of events with Olga do to sever it? _ **

**_Find out in chapter 4 coming soon!_**


	4. Chapter 4

**_Now on to Chapter 4... I really don't know what to say here, so... enjoy!_**

* * *

"Are you checking up on Adol again, Dana?" Sarai asked, walking into the crystal globe room in the Temple of Evolution, where Dana was watching a certai place on Earth carefully.

"Yes," Dana answered, "It seems he and Dogi got fired from their last job, and stuck with another debt..." she added with a sigh. 'And now they're both resting at the local tavern."

"They have it rough I see..." Sarai said with a drop of sweat going down her head.

"Yeah, it's times like these I wish I could be down there to support him."

"You know..." Sarai said, "I've spoken to the other assistants, and they've told me if you truly wish to leave for a while and go down to Earth, they'd be fine with it, they've had the opportunity to watch the Earth for so long, and would be willing to take control of things temporarily."

"R-Really?" Daan gasped out, but then smiled sadly, "Sarai, I appreciate that... But we both know the laws of this realm wouldn't allow me to do something like that..."

"Yes, I guess so... I just thought you'd at least like to hear we're all supporting you!" said Sarai, she then looked to the globe and asked, "So what is he doing now?"

"Adol's... um... shoving peanuts up Dogi's nose as he's sleeping... oh, Dogi woke up... and now he's chasing him through the tavern..." Dana described what she saw with a drop of sweat going down her head.

"...sounds like those two are going to have another debt." Sarai commented.

As Dana and Sarai watched the globe, Olga peeked out from a corner. She watched the two of them intently, and saw as Sarai turned and left to go attend to other matters.

"Okay, now to put my plan in motion..." Olga said, puling out the orb she had been given by the black market merchant. She gazed down at it as she thought back to her conversation with the little man.

* * *

_Flashback_

"This is the Mind Orb," Lokki said with a creepy grin, "A dark artifact capable of allowing you to tap into the mind of a mortal person and take total full control of them, even from up here in the realm of gods."

"I'm honestly surprised you have something of this power." Olga said, "It seems like something like this could bring about total chaos on Earth in the wrong hands."

"True, but it has it's limits. If you were a god it would take little effort to control whoever you wanted, but for a mere servant such as ourselves we can only really be able to tap into the minds of weak-willed morals, and in that case, one with a strong enough will can resist it."

"Well thank you for this at least." Olga said, tossing Lokki a bag of essence stones as payment.

"Oooh, quite nice..." Lokki said, examining the stones.

"So do you use these for your manufacturing, or do you harass the energy or-?" Olga started, but quickly shut up whens he saw him bite down and eat one of the stones.

"Hee hee, yummy yummy for my tummy!" he cackled as he started gobbling them up.

"...I-I'm leaving now." Olga said clearly disturbed.

* * *

Back in the present, Olga stared at the orb; it was very much designed like Dana's crystal globe, including many of the mechanics. While she never used Dana's globe for herself, she had seen her use it enough times to get an idea of how it worked. She focused herself and used the orb to pinpoint the very tavern that Adol was in and found the red haired lad himself sitting at a table.

'Perfect!' Olga thought, 'It does work just like the globe. Now to tap into this moral's mind...'

She did as the instructions told and focused on Adol, she could feel the rush of her mind thrusting downwards into Adol's head, only to immediately be thrown back with a shock.

"Gah! I guess he's indeed too strong willed for me to take control of him..." Olga gasped, then panted out from the dizzying impact, "I'll need to change my plan... but I need a weak minded person to pull this off..."

As if almost on cue, walking into the tavern was a short young woman with short brown hair, she looked ridiculously out of place among all the warriors and workers that the tavern usually had. The big round glasses she wore and the plain dress didn't help in that regard.

"E-Excuse me..." she said, accidentally bumping into a burly looking guy, causing her to back up nervously and trip over an uneven plank, making her fall flat on her face.

And barely anyone noticed it.

"Poor thing." Olga said with a drop of sweat going down her head. It was then a thought occurred to her, "Wait, this would be a perfect!"

She used the orb in same manner as she did with Adol, she focused on the young woman's head and the same feeling as before occurred, this time however there was no shock to drive her out.

"D-Did it work...?" Olga asked out loud, her question was then answered when she saw the girl speak.

"D-Did it work...?" the short brown-haired girl in the tavern asked, looking around, confusing a few people nearby.

'I-It worked!' Olga thought, 'I couldn't take control of the mortal boy, but this might be the next best thing! Now to have her speak to him...' 

* * *

"Um, hello?"

Adol snapped out of a daze he was in after Dogi had clobbered him over the head during the bar fight. He looked over to see Dogi was now moping the tavern to presumably cover their newest debt, then looked back at the glasses-wearing girl.

"Oh, hi. Uh..." Adol said, "Can I help you?"

"You're Adol Cristin right?" the girl asked, "Pleased to meet you, I'm Mimsy!" she took out her hand to shake, which Adol eventually shook back after a few seconds of registering this new face.

"Nice to meet you... you said Mimsy, huh? That's a..." he paused, "Uh. unique name."

"Um, so... I just wanted to tell you..." Mimsy trailed off, then suddenly blurted out "I'm your biggest fan!"

"My biggest..." stammered Adol, recovering from the shout.

"I'd followed all your adventures and read all your novels!" she said excitedly, "You're such a brave swordsman too!" she was so energetic about her words she managed to loose her balance and fall over.

"Um... Dogi? I think this girl is broken." Adol called out to his friend. 

* * *

Meanwhile in the Temple of Evolution, Olga was using what information Dana would tell her about Adol to help Mimsy get acquainted with him. It was rather odd and embarrassing to act like this around the guy, but it was purely a means to an end. Sure enough it worked to some extent, as Dogi eventually arrived and the three sat down at a booth to chat.

Olga paused for a moment as she peeked back over to Dana who was back to watching the globe and looked confused.

"Huh? Who is this girl? I've never seen her before..." Dana said to herself. She watched as Adol, Dogi and Mimsy chatted, but she wasn't particularly pleased to see Mimsy getting so close to her red-haired friend.

"Alright, both my Goddess and the mortal have taken the bait." Olga said to herself, she paused for a second realizing what she said about her friend being tricked like this, but sighed, "I apologize for this Lady Goddess, but it's for your own good..."

Olga continued to hide out, using the orb to make Mimsy tag along with Adol and Dogi everywhere. She even volunteered to aide them in working to clear up their debts, which the two had no problem with. Adol however did have a problem with Mimsy being too clingy around him, and Dana wasn't enjoying it particularly either. 

* * *

Dana continued to spend her nights with Adol, talking about their days as usual. Though there was some unease between the two on occasion, namely due to Adol being worn out by Mimsy's energy and Dana worrying about Mimsy in general.

Dana tried to rationalize things by thinking the girl was very loud and clumsy, and didn't seem like Adol's type, but each time she checked her globe during the day Mimsy would be as persistent as possible, and it was enough for Adol to give her some attention. Dana always knew Adol was the type who could draw people towards him with his valor and charisma, including women, but for some reason this particular girl bothered her... 

* * *

"This really needs to speed up..." Olga muttered, as she stared at Adol, Mimsy and Dogi in the tavern again chatting. It was clear Adol considered Mimsy a good friend now, but it seemed that's all she was to him at that time. "I need to get Adol so distracted with this Mimsy girl that either Adol gives up on my Goddess or she gives up on him. Either way they never meet again, and she doesn't get caught by the counsel with him. I just need something to bring the red-head and this klutz closer together..."

Olga's knack for timing triggered again, as a large man with a bleeding arm burst into the tavern. He was holding himself up with a battle spear.

"They need help!" shouted the man as the patrons came up to see to his injuries.

"What's going on, what happened?" asked one of the patrons as they sat the man down on a chair.

"Those kids... they were... and I... I couldn't save them..." he muttered.

Adol, overhearing this, looked to Dogi and the two nodded without a word. Mimsy/Olga watched as the two went over to meet the injured man, who was getting treatment from one of the waitresses.

"What happened? Who is them?" Adol asked the man.

"A... a couple of kids who got lost at a small mountain across the river, I went to help them... but there was this terrifying monster there... I fought as hard as I could, but took too many injuries to go any further, so I ran back here to get help..." he explained.

"And you're sure the kids are somewhere there?" asked Dogi, putting his hand down on the table in front of the spear-using man.

"Positive, I heard them screaming when I called out to them..." the man said, "I can't remember much about the beast that attacked me, but for some reason it's keeping those kids alive..."

Adol nodded as he turned to Dogi and said, "Let's go"

"Right! We'll save those kids in no time!" Dogi said, slamming his fist into his palm.

Olga was surprised to see them so quick to go into the situation, despite not knowing what possible danger there was. Despite her ultimate goal, she definitely felt a need to go aide them in saving the children. She made her decision and used the orb to call out to Mimsy.

"Hold on!" Mimsy/Olga said as she got up and ran over to Adol and Dogi, "I'll come along and help you two!"

The two of them were taken back by how determined she was now, as opposed to the bubbly weirdo she usually was.

"You sure Mouse Girl?" asked Dogi, using his nickname for her, "Can you even fight?"

"Of course I can," said Mimsy/Olga, "I just need a..." she looked down at the spear the injured man had and asked, "Sir, may I borrow that spear to save the children?"

"Uh, sure." said the man as the patrons got him up to take him to a doctor to treat his wounds further. "But can you handle it alright?"

Olga concentrated on the orb's power as she had Mimsy grab and tear off the bottom of her dress, turning it into a makeshift skirt. She then kicked the man's spear into the air, causing it to spin and come down, she quickly grabbed it, spun it around her and struck a pose with it.

Adol and Dogi had to push each other's jaws up after seeing that display of skill.

"Let's go!" said Mimsy/Olga. 

* * *

With her work done for the time being, Dana returned to her crystal globe to check in on Adol, and was surprised to see for the first time in weeks, he was running with his weapon drawn over a bridge, through a forest, and towards a mountain, seeming to be going on some new adventure.

While she was bothered that Mimsy was going with them, she couldn't help herself but to root for the three of them, whatever they were trying to accomplish. She watched as they charged up the mountain, attacking any creatures that came at them. Dana was even more surprised that Mimsy was such a good spear fighter, though her techniques and style seemed oddly familiar for some reason... 

* * *

As the three warriors ran up the mountain towards the monster, and hopefully the children, a flock of bat-like creatures came down on the three. While they did an effective job at fighting them off with sword, fists and spear attacks, one bat creature got the drop on Mimsy/Olga and she lost her footing, and almost sent her falling off the side of the cliff.

Mimsy/Olga panicked, trying to move the spear into the side of the cliff to stop herself, but thankfully Adol managed to get over to the edge and grab Mimsy/Olga by her arm. Dogi then grabbed Adol around his waist and heaved the two of them back up onto flat land.

"A-Adol, thank you." Mimsy/Olga said to him, smiling sweetly. Adol couldn't help but blush a little at her compliment, while Dogi just laughed their little moment up.

* * *

Back in the temple, Olga was truly thankful for Adol's quick work in saving her. As much as she resented him for putting Dana in danger with their meetings, she was impressed at how genuine of a hero he could be. Then again, it made sense that he would be after he had helped Dana save the world those years ago...

Her thoughts on the matter were forgotten when she heard Sarai frantically trying to calm Dana down. Olga checked to see if it was sadness or anger, but what she saw instead rather chilled her.

It was clear Dana was not particularly taking that rescue very well, Her facial features were darkened and her eyes gleamed a blank white, while her long hair seemed to come apart and split into eight long strands, which now were wiggling around over her head like the deadly snakes on Medusa's head.

"Ah, please Dana, calm down, it was just Adol being himself! I'm sure nothing romantic could come from thi-"

Sarai's words were silenced when one of the lizard creatures Dana had designed walked past them, and as Dana's eyes glew, suddenly the lizard shook and spontaneously combusted. Sarai just stood there blankly before backing off slowly.

"M-Maybe I should had come up with a different plan..." Olga said with a pale face.

* * *

Eventually Adol and his team reached the mountain peak, where there stood a large carnivorous bird-like creature, known as a Gharudra, feasting on some animal's bones. It looked up and saw the three of them standing there with their weapons drawn, and it instinctively screeched out to seemingly challenge them. The group looked behind and noticed a cave in the distance.

"Hey!" shouted Dogi towards the cave, "Are you kids in there?!"

"Please help us!" screamed a young child's voice, "We're scared!"

"Come on Adol," said Dogi, "We gotta save them!"

"Right, you with us Mimsy?" asked Adol.

"Yes, of course." said Mimsy/Olga, brandishing her spear.

The three of them charged into battle against the Gharudra, who screeched out and charged forward as well.

* * *

Despite her earlier rage, Dana was now back to rooting for the three as she watched them fight the Gharudra, it was really all she could do for Adol in that moment, besides maybe making a mental note to find out what string of evolution led to the creation of a terrifying monster like this.

Dana wished to herself that she could help Adol in the fight; while her main duties were seeing to the balance of evolution, she did often try to find time to practice with her twin blades, so that she'd never lose her touch. She even spared against Adol during some of their get-togethers to keep up her practice.

She watched as the two sides clashed intensively, Adol swung his sword, Dogi lunged forward and threw out his fists, while Mimsy/Olga flipped through the air, stabbing the bird with her spear. The Gharudra did manage to get some hits on the three, but they weren't worse for wear.

Eventually the Gharudra pulled an unexpected trick, suddenly turning about face and scraping dirt up from the ground, impacting it into the group and blinding their view temporarily. The creature then took that opportunity to lunge out at what it perceived as the weakest fighter and pieced it's beak right at Mimsy/Olga, directly impacting into her and sending her flying back and impacting into the ground. Adol and Dogi were shocked to see her take such a powerful blow. Even Dana found herself with new-found concern for her.

"Mimsy, no!" shouted Adol.

"Could she had taken an attack like that?!" asked Dogi worriedly.

Olga panicked and did what she could to help Mimsy recover. She only had intended for her to lure Adol away from Dana, not to get killed like this.

'Come on, get up..." Olga muttered, trying desperately to call out to her. "Get up!"

Much to everyone's surprise, Mimsy did get up, she seemed less in pain and more irritated at what just happened. Not even Olga thought she was this strong, especially since she was so easily vulnerable to the Mind Orb.

Mimsy/Olga then ran forward, leaped up and plunged her spear into the Gharudra's left eye, causing it to screech in pain, while Adol and Dogi took the opportunity to rush forward and beat it down with more attacks, before Adol did one last large swipe with his sword, splitting it's throat open. The creature left out one last gasp before impacting into the ground dead.

"Yeah, we did it!" shouted Dogi proudly.

"They did it!" Dana said excitedly.

"We did it..." sighed Olga with relief.

* * *

When the three entered the cave of the Gharudra, they found two children sitting in a nest, scared out of their wits, as they were surrounded by a bunch of giant eggs.

"Woah, it's that thing's nest?" Dogi observed.

"Looks like the monster kept the kids alive so they could be fresh for it's young to eat." Adol said.

"We should definitely get them out of here before these eg-" Mimsy/Olga's words were cut off by the sound of the eggs shifting and cracking. The eggs opened up revealing newborn Gharudra that were immediately screeching for food. They saw the kids and went at them, but Adol and Dogi made quick work of the hatchlings before they could even get a bite.

Naturally the children were terrified of what just happened, but Mimsy/Olga slowly walked up to them and held out her head "It's fine," she said, "You're safe now."

The kids teared up and ran to Mimsy/Olga, crying into her dress as she held them gently.

"Heh, she kicks ass and has got a way with kids, eh Adol?" Dogi said suggestively, nudging him in the side.

"Can we drop that and just get them home now?" Adol asked annoyed. 

* * *

Dana was relieved to see Adol, Dogi and Mimsy leave the cave safely, and with two children alive and well. She especially couldn't help herself but smile to see how cute Adol was holding the boy over his shoulder as the group started heading back to the village.

One of the problems Dana had with being a goddess was finding out that she was virtually incapable of having a child, It had something to do with the way her goddess form functioned and to maintain population and power control in the Realm of Maia, but it was still something she resented. She thought back to the wonderful children she used to look after back in her homeland, and how there was a part of her that had wanted kids of her own. Over the time she had known and came to fall in love with Adol, she secretly hoped he could have...

She shook off that thought, knowing it could never happen now, and just resigned to go back to her work, confident that the group would make it back to the village safely.

Olga meanwhile watched as she left, while Dana was trying her hardest to keep a strong face, it was clear that this whole thing with Adol and Mimsy was bothering her. Despite how bad she felt however, Olga knew she was doing the right thing for her, cutting ties to someone who could only hold her back and potentially have her arrested, she could finally focus on her duties...

...at least Olga hoped it was the right thing...

* * *

**_Ugh, this chapter turned out longer then I thought it would, so I'm going to cut it in half. Until then, stay tuned!_**


	5. Chapter 5

**_Chapter 5 time, things are going to get more intense then the last chapter, I can assure you._**

* * *

Adol, Dogi and Mimsy's rescue of the kids became the talk of the village, and the three were quickly acknowledged as true heroes to the citizens.

Much to Dogi's dismay, their heroism wasn't enough to convince the people they owed money to to call off his and Adol's debts, so they begrudgingly kept working. Thankfully due to the rescue mission, they found themselves receiving more jobs that catered better to their skills, and they were making much better progress with their dues.

Mimsy continued to support them, not only in assisting with the jobs, but she even started allowing them to stay with her in her house to save money on inn prices.

On the downside for Adol, she continued to show off her overenthusiastic clingy side whenever they weren't working. While he didn't like it, and he especially got annoyed when Dogi teased him about her, he wasn't really in a position to complain about it either. She was a fine friend otherwise, and was a great fighter.

"Hey Adol..." Mimsy spoke up as they were traveling to a bandit camp to get back some villager's possessions, "What are you planning to do when you leave the village?"

"Not entirely sure yet," Adol said, "But I was thinking of seeing if Dogi wanted to travel to the far east."

"You mean where those fire-breathing cats are?" she asked, "That sounds amazing!"

"What, did you want to go as well or something?" Adol asked.

"Well maybe..." she said meekly.

"Hm. ...I guess I'll consider it." Adol nodded, "I'll chat with Dogi about it lat-."

"Yaaay!" squealed Mimsy as she hugged her tightly, knocking Adol over to the ground.

"Gaah! Dogi, help!" Adol called out.

* * *

To say Dana was upset was an understatement.

She wasn't sure if she had really good timing or the worst timing, as when she went to check on Adol after completing some work, she was exposed to seeing Adol and Mimsy talking for a bit, only for her to throw herself at him and knock him over.

"W-What is she doing?! What are they saying?!" Dana asked the globe frantically. Much to her frustration, while her globe allowed her to observe the Earth, she couldn't hear what anyone said, due to the laws of the Divine Justice Counsel imposed that gods like her were forbidden from overhearing conversations with mortals without written permission, so she was at a loss of what the two of them had spoken about to make the girl so happy.

"Adol... could he possibly be...?" she asked, starting to tremble.

Meanwhile, Olga was admiring how well her plan was going with Mimsy. She and Adol had grown close, to the point where she might even be a long time traveling companion for him.

She had to admit she was worried what to do about the girl when the plan was over, but Mimsy herself seemed strong enough physically to hold her own alongside Adol and Dogi, and might not need her control to be a good companion for them, she'd give her some more time until she was convinced the two were truly close before quitting, so as not to risk getting caught using the Mind Orb any longer. What really mattered of course was just keeping the red-head away from her goddess. 

* * *

"Oh wow, you three took down that many bandits?!" Dana asked Adol during their next get-together at the temple balcony. Unknown to them however, Olga was hiding out in Dana's bedroom, overhearing their conversation to plan her next move.

"Yeah, they didn't stand a chance," Adol said grinning, "I was really impressed at how Mimsy took down so many!"

'That girl again,' Dana thought. "So... um, what exactly is Mimsy to you anyway?" she asked, playing with her hair absentmindedly.

"Mimsy?" Adol asked, "Well she's a bit of a klutzy weirdo, and way too clingy... but sometimes she's also like a natural born warrior, and I can tell she's got the heart of an adventurer! To be honest, me and Dogi were considering asking her to join us for a while." Adol said.

"You mean, traveling with you...?" Dana asked, looking down.

"Somethin' the matter?" Adol asked, glancing at her.

"Adol, I'm happy you've made such a great new friend, but... there might be something to her you don't know..."

"Hm? Like what?"

"Like, are you really sure she's really just a normal village girl? She could be a fugitive from the law, or a spy trying to use you to get into another country, or an assassin hired by one of your old enemies, she could even be a god trying to play a horrible trick on you!"

Olga's face paled overhearing that last bit.

"I... think you're overthinking it too much Dana, where did all this hostility come from about Mimsy?" Adol asked.

"I just, um... just think there might be some dark secret to her..." she said distantly.

The two of them could have sworn they heard someone falling over somewhere in that moment, but ignored it.

Adol pondered what it was that Dana was speaking about, when a thought occurred to her, 'Wait a minute, could she be...'

"Are you..." Adol spoke up, scratching his chin, then grinning slightly, "...jealous?"

"Jealous?!" exclaimed Dana.

"Jees, I never thought I'd see a pure and noble goddess like yourself jealous over a short glasses girl from a nowhere village!" he teased, shrugging his shoulders.

"..." Dana didn't say anything in reply.

"But seriously, its almost like you think I lo-" Adol started saying as he turned to see Dana's embarrassed reaction, but instead saw a rather heartbreaking sight. Dana's eyes tearing up, she was shaking ever so slightly, and she looked truly sad and hurt.

"W-Why would you even say something like that...?" she asked in a mixture of sadness and anger.

"D-Dana, what's the matter? I was just joking around." said Adol, "Why are yo-"

Dana said nothing, but stood up and started walking off towards the exit to the balcony.

"Hey Dana, where you going?" Adol asked, getting up and starting to follow after her.

"... I... I got some work to do I've been putting off!" she said with a clearly grumpy tone, "I'll talk to you next time, alright?"

"Hey, come on, what's the big deal? All I said was Mimsy might be going with-"

Dana suddenly turned and shouted at him.

"Well maybe she can just do everything with you then!"

"What? What are you talking about?" Adol asked in confusion.

"...I'm sorry Adol, but you need to leave early tonight." she said coldly.

"U-Um, yeah, o-okay..." Adol said, feeling a strange sense of uncertainty, as his conscious form faded and went back to his body on Earth.

As soon as he left, Dana just lowered her head, as tears started running down her face. 

* * *

Adol woke up from his sleep a few hours after that, having gotten a full night's sleep, but not feeling particularly good.

"Man, what was up with Dana?" he muttered, "All I did was tease her a little..."

"Hi Adol!" piped up a voice, as he turned and saw Mimsy holding a tray with food on it.

"OH! Oh, Mimsy... hey..." Adol said, "Um, morning?"

"Hiii, are you okay? Did you have a bad night's sleep?" she asked.

"Oh, no... I just... think I upset someone I know earlier..."

Olga couldn't help but look at how down he seemed. She presumed he was talking about Dana, as she had overheard the argument a few hours ago. She pitied him somewhat, but had something prepared to cheer him up and get him to notice Mimsy more.

"Well, here, I decided to made you breakfast in bed!"

"Oh, well that sounds nice, thank yo-"

That was when Adol looked down at the food platter she made.

"It's eggs, ham, oatmeal and toast!" Mimsy said, "A perfect way to start your morning!"

He had battled all sort of monsters, ghouls and demons, he braved the darkest places on Earth, and had fought forces that posed as gods.

And what was on the tray absolutely horrified him.

The eggs were completely burnt, yet somehow slime was oozing out of it, the ham was mashed and half raw, the oatmeal was bubbling with green spots, and the toast more resembled a devastated crater left by a meteor.

"This is... uh..." Adol started, "Unique...?"

"Well dig in!" she said enthusiastically.

"O-Okay..."

About half an hour later, Dogi came into the room, "Hey Adol, we got a new job to gather some wolf pelts, are you i-" he stopped and saw Adol passed out on the bed with the fod tray half eaten and a strange purple smoke emerging from his mouth.

"Adol! Hang in there!" Dogi pleaded. 

* * *

"Well, he seemed to like that just fine!" Olga said proudly from her side, naive about just how horrible the food she prepared was, "I'm a better chef then I thought! Maybe I should try to make something for my Lady Goddess sometime!"

She paused, thinking about the sad eyes Adol had when he woke. Did the argument they had really have that heavy of an affect on him? She had hoped Mimsy would had been enough to cheer him up, but whenever she tried to get him to take his mind off Dana he would just resist more, it seemed she was truly was important to him. Her thoughts then went to her Lady Goddess herself, and how she was taking this...

'Hm, perhaps I should go check on my Goddess later...' she thought.

* * *

Around a day later, Dana was frustrated, and had a difficult time concentrating on her work, so she was taking a small break sitting at her bed. The thoughts of her last meeting with Adol just did nothing but to upset her.

'I can't believe Adol would say something like that...' Dana thought, 'It was like he was moc...'

"Goddess, I came to check on you." Olga spoke up, walking into her room and up to Dana, "Is something the matter? I overheard you yelling at the mortal Adol earlier today, did something happen?"

"We, um... had a fight..." Dana gripped the sheets on her bed.

"I see..." Olga walked over and sat down beside Dana on the bed. "Do you wish to talk about it?"

"H-He wouldn't stop talking about that Mimsy friend of his... he's even planning on having her go with him adventuring... They're getting so close now I... I just feel sick thinking of it. What if he decides he wants to be around her more? What if they start getting closer...? What if he... he wants to...?"

'Just as planned,' Olga thought to herself, 'I'm sorry Goddess, but it's time for the final phase of my plan...'

Olga cleared her throat and spoke up, "Goddess, you're probably not going to like what I will tell you, but it's clear that he's found new happiness with a fellow mortal," Olga stated.

Dana turned to her friend with her eyes wide, and her body trembling. "But-"

"And frankly I think it's not your place to try to step in their way." Olga was stern in her tone as she spoke.

"But I-I still feel like I should just talk to him again, maybe I was wrong, maybe..." Dana muttered.

"You said that he could only meet you in his dream if both of you want to see each other, correct? Are you truly certain he even want to himself after your argument?"

"Yes, I-I'm sure of it, I just... I... but he..." Dana stumbled over her words.

"Listen Dana, as I said already, the Divine Justice Counsel has been stepping up their efforts investigating those who break the laws of Maia's realm. If one day you're meeting Ad- that mortal, and the two of you are found out, you could both end up having to stand trial."

"Yes, you've mentioned this before, but I wouldn't allow-" she paused hearing that last thing Olga said, "We could both..." Dana muttered, putting a hand to her chest.

"Yes, I know you're aware if the counsel finds out a mortal has been associating with a god, that they would quickly assume he's after power. Even if you don't think he would ever do something like that, I doubt the counsel would even hesitate to make the assumption. You're not just risking your own life, but his as well by doing this!" Olga said.

Dana was at a loss, she had always planned that if the two ever did get caught she'd take the full blame of it, but there was no guarantee that the counsel wouldn't go after Adol as well regardless. Dana recalled the day she ascended to godhood that she wanted Adol to live a normal life on Earth, but she didn't want that ruined by her desire to see him. She found herself trembling, not sure what to do anymore, tears were forming in her eyes as she turned to Olga.

"Olga, I..." Dana started, but was cut off.

"Let me ask you something Goddess," Olga said, "Do you truly care for him?"

"Y-Yes..." Dana replied, "I can't help myself, I love him..."

"...then leave him be." Olga simply said.

Dana said nothing else and hung her head down. Olga then took and held her in her arms for comfort, which Dana accepted, and she just cried into her friend's shoulder.

While Olga's plan was a success, when all was said and done, she quite frankly hated herself for what she had done; breaking her best friend's heart, especially after Dana had gone to great lengths to give her a second chance to stand alongside her as her adviser and protector, even after death.

Even Olga had to admit in her time controlling Mimsy that Adol turned out to be a fine man, and maybe if things had gone differently for Dana, Olga would had given them her blessing. She knew while Adol had developed a fine respect for Mimsy, it wasn't anything close to the love she was trying to create between the two, and it was clear the one Adol only and truly loved was Dana. The bond between the red-head swordsman and the blue-haired goddess had been closer then she could had ever believed, perhaps even more then the bond between herself, Sarai and Dana.

Olga couldn't believe she was thinking that after all that was done, but the more she had to see her friend suffer, the more contempt she had towards the laws of the Realm of Maia that created this friction between them in the first place.

'I wish this didn't have to happen...' she thought, 'But what else could I have done...?' she shook her head and continued to comfort Dana, 'I-It's fine, at least she's safe now...'

* * *

Lokki, the black market dealer, found himself standing before the Divine Justice Counsel. He had to admit even with his easy going nature that it was an intimidating sight seeing so many gods and goddesses that represented the law and order of the Realm of Maia staring down at him, prepared to pass judgment for his crimes he was just arrested for.

"Lokki, you have been charged with multiple cases of production and sales of illegal dark artifacts." stated a tall woman in long blue and green robes, and holding a large handbag over her shoulder containing multiple golden scrolls, she was known as Lady Xithena, Goddess of Judgment and naturally one of the top members of the Divine Justice Counsel.

"This is a very grave and serious crime that makes you eligible for capital punishment, including but not limited to eternal imprisonment or demonization, how do you plead?" she asked.

"Heh heh..." Lokki chuckled, 'I take pride in my work and my business. I have nothing to hide for my crimes, I plead guilty."

The counsel chattered wildly among each other, surprised he would be so honest about his charges.

"Settle down, settle down," said Xithena to the counsel, then turned to Lokki. "Do you have anything else to say for yourself before we sentence you then?"

"Weeell, I might have an offer of information for you... in exchange for a possible lighter sentence." Lokki said.

"...Very well. we're listening." said Xithena with interest.

"I'll be willing to tell you information about my last client and their purchase." he said with his trademark toothy grin. 

* * *

Adol opened his eyes as the sun beamed down on him through the window of Mimsy's house. He sighed sadly, staring up the ceiling. Try as he might, he was back to his old ways from the past four years, unable to dream, and unable to see Dana. He desperately wanted to meet and talk with her, but he wondered more and more if Dana even wanted to talk to him now.

"Hey Adol, you getting' up yet?" asked Dogi, "I got great news for you!"

"What is it?" Adol asked, slowly forcing himself out of bed.

"I just made the final payment to the innkeeper, we're officially free of all our debts!" he said proudly.

"Well that's great..." Adol said with a half smile.

"Huh, weird. I thought you'd be more excited about this, you've been down in the dumps for the past week, like you were before that night when we first came to the village, something the matter?"

"I, think I let someone down big time." Adol said sadly, "They don't seem to even want to talk to me anymore..."

"Ouch, was it Mimsy? I found that note the other day," Dogi referred to a note written by Mimsy that said there was a personal thing she had to deal with in another town and that she might not be able to travel with Adol and Dogi after all, though the two were allowed to stay at her house for as long as they needed. Adol himself was a bit surprised to see her change her mind so soon, but his thoughts were too focused lately on other matters, namely why Dana was acting so strange.

"And here I thought she was supposed to go traveling with us." Dogi sighed.

"I don't- wait, what was that last thing you said...?"

"I thought she was supposed to go traveling with us?" Dogi repeated.

Adol stared blankly, his whole face turning pale, as he came to realize what had happened with Dana. 

* * *

_Flashback_

"Well you see, despite everything we went through at my homeland, I really had a great time traveling with you and our friends." she said, "I've never got to experience anything outside of the island I lived on when I was growing up, it wasn't until I came to your time, and later when I got my crystal globe that I really got to see how amazing the world itself really is!" Dana said the day after they had reunited.

"So you're saying you want to go adventuring?" Adol asked grinning.

"I don't know, maybe..." she said with a small smile, "It's one thing to see the world through that globe, but I think I would love to feel and experience the world like you and Dogi do." 

* * *

_Flashback_

"Mimsy?" Adol asked, "Well she's a but of a klutzy weirdo, and way too clingy... but sometimes she's also like a natural born warrior, and I can tell she's got the heart of an adventurer! Actually, me and Dogi were considering asking her to join us for a while." he said just a week ago when he last conversed with Dana.

"Wait a minute..." Adol said later, scratching his chin, then grinning slightly, "Are you... jealous?"

"Jealous?!" exclaimed Dana

"Jees, I never thought I'd see a pure and noble goddess like yourself jealous over a short glasses girl from a nowhere village!" he teased.

"Well maybe she can just do everything with you then!" Dana shouted finally before storming off. 

* * *

Adol stared with blank eyes, when he saw that she was jealous, he assumed that she thought he had grown to love Mimsy, which was nowhere near the truth, as it was Dana he loved, now and forever.

Adol's eyes then glazed over, as he finally realized what it was that made Dana so upset and act the way she did, and presumably why he couldn't contact her anymore.

"Dana thought I was mocking her that she couldn't go adventuring with us, she took it so personally... and it just went completely over my head!" he muttered, "...What have I done?"

"Hm? What was that?" Dogi asked his friend.

"Dogi, I... made a huge mistake." Adol said sadly, as he felt that emptiness creeping back into him. 

* * *

In the Temple of Evolution, Dana was back to her work, attempting to create a creature that could potentially live in the next cycle of evolution. The process was more difficult for her then usual, as she had a hard time concentrating. Her thoughts just seem to keep going back to Adol.

It had been two weeks since she had last seen him, she even went out of her way to avoid watching him in her crystal globe, since she knew if she tried to see him she'd just cry once again. She couldn't stop thinking of what he had told her, the Mimsy girl he had grown so close to, and the consequences of what could happen if they kept up their meetings.

"Dana, are you doing okay?" she heard a voice speak up, as she turned to Sarai and Olga, who were watching her.

"Y-Yes I'm okay. Just finishing up this creature's design..." she said, forcing a smile.

'If that's its final design, I pity it's existence..." Olga said with a disturbed face.

Dana was confused as she turned to look at what she had created; what appeared to be a frog-ike creature with eight legs and a long neck, as well as it's snout being located over it's rear end.

"Ack!" exclaimed Dana as she waved her hands frantically to get rid of the design. "Sorry! I'll start over... " she said as she went back to her work.

"Poor Dana." said Sarai whispered to Olga, "She's been like this for quite a while, what happened with Adol is really affecting her..."

"It's fine..." said Olga, a bit bothered, "All he would do is hold her back and cause her pain, and I'm sure he himself is fine."

"Are you sure?" Sarai asked, "I took a glance at the crystal globe recently, and he just seems to be as miserable as she is."

"H-He'll get over it, he seems like a person who can let go of remorse over time and move on. I-If only our goddess could bring herself to do the same..." Olga said, trying her hardest to believe what she said herself.

"I don't know..." Sarai said, "Maybe if it was anyone else, but the two of them have a bond, a link together that I felt with her, and the other chosen before us, but between those two I feel... it's just something even more then that, more then the bond we all feel to her."

Olga stared at Sarai, contemplating her words. She was saying many of the same things Olga herself was trying to shut out in her mind.

Sarai bid them both goodbye and left to go take other matters, as Olga looked over to Dana, who had just finished her next project.

"Da- Goddess," Olga corrected herself, "Are you going to be okay now...?"

"Y-Yes," Dana said, "I'm sure I'll be fi-"

It was then suddenly a number of portals suddenly opened up in the Temple of Evolution, and a group of guards clad in gold armor and white robes started running in, surrounding Olga and Dana, aiming their spears at them.

"W-Wha-?!" Olga exclaimed, holding Dana close protectively, "What is this?! What do you want?!"

Emerging from a bigger and more grand portal was the Divine Justice Counsel member Lady Xithena herself, taking a look around the temple, then sending her guards out to search the area.

"L-Lady Xithena..." muttered Olga, "What is she doing here...?"

"Lady Dana, Goddess of Evolution," said Xithena, "You're under arrest for direct interference with the lives of Earth mortals!"

"W-What?" Dana muttered, looking up in shock.

"What?!" exclaimed Olga. "You can't be serious!"

Lady Xithena didn't say anything else, but had the guards take Dana and pulled her right out of Olga's arms. They then attached a pair of black and gold bracelets onto Dana's arms.

"Those bands shall negate your goddess powers, so that they cannot be used in any way to escape, now take her away!" Xithena ordered.

"Olga..." muttered Dana sadly as she was being lead away towards a portal, "Y-You were right about me and Adol... We were never meant to be... I should never hav-"

"No!" shouted Olga, "That's not right, you...!"

But her words were wasted as the guards simply took Dana through the portal. Olga fumed angerly as she turned to Lady Xithena.

"What proof do you have that she ever meddled with mortals?!" she demanded.

"We have testimony and proof that one of her subjects purchased an illegal dark artifact and used it to directly control a mortal to do her bidding." she said, glaring down at Olga.

"We found it, Lady Xithena!" shouted another guard, who emerged from a room holding a cloth with the Mind Orb inside it.

The answer hit Olga like a ton of bricks, it wasn't the meetings between Dana and Adol that got her arrested, but Olga's very own actions to protect her. She herself was the reason this happened...

"B-But she had nothing to do with that!" snapped Olga, "I'm the one who purchased the Mind Orb from that black market dealer, and I used it to control that mortal! I confess, please take me and not Dana!" she shouted, her whole body was shaking with rage, fear and sadness.

Lady Xithena simply took one of her scrolls and unrolled it, showing a specific section.

"...In the Divine Justice Charter, page 14, paragraph 2, it reads, 'Crimes relating to the use of dark artifacts of a god's personal followers are a burden that the god themselves must be judged for'. The Goddess of Evolution must answer for these crimes herself." she explained.

Olga felt her knees growing weak, she couldn't believe this was happening.

"Then take me too!" she shouted desperately, "I'm still the one that committed the crime!"

"If the Goddess of Evolution is indeed found guilty for her crimes, she will be permanently stripped of her power, this temple will be removed, and a new goddess will be chosen, and the former goddess' followers will all be detained afterwards to face their own trials." stated Lady Xithena with a sneer, before she turned and walked towards the portal. "That will be all."

Olga wasn't about to let it be the end like that. She found an opportunity, charged forward and headbutted a random guard in the back, causing him to shout out in pain, she then grabbed onto him and bit her teeth down on his shoulder, causing him to scream even louder.

"Arrest me now you devils!" she shouted angerly.

"Hmph, very well, I don't normally do this, but you have made your choice. Take her as well on assault charges!" said Lady Xithena.

The guards responded by quickly swarming and detaining Olga, restraining her and leading her into a portal. Once all the guards were gone, the portals closed up, leaving the main room of the Temple of Evolution completely empty.

...except for one who saw everything, Sarai.

"Oh no, Dana... Olga..." she whispered, as tears were forming in her eyes, "What am I going to do...?"

Sarai contemplated what options she had. She couldn't ask for help from Dana's other followers, they were as powerless to do anything about it as she was, and the other gods wouldn't risk their necks to save another.

It then occurred to her who could help, the only one who she could think of.

"I have to find Adol!" Sarai stated.

* * *

**_And now we're approaching the climax of the story! I have to admit I really had to force myself writing this chapter, not just by the content, but figuring out how to organize it. Thankfully the next chapter will be much more straight forward and fun to write. Thanks for reading!_**


	6. Chapter 6

**_Time for Chapter 6, things are going to be a lot more action-packed as the story reaches the end. Enjoy reading!_**

* * *

"Tell me miss, if a chicken lays an egg on top of a barn, which direction does the egg fall?"

"The egg becomes breakfast for the hungry weasel." Sarai answered.

"So you are the client, greetings, you can just call me Vin."

After Dana and Olga were arrested by Lady Xithena and her guards, Sarai left the Temple of Evolution to find information on a way to bring Adol to the Realm of Maia. At this point, he was the only one she could trust who had the courage and ability to stand up to the Divine Counsel and save her two friends.

Her mission took her to the darker locals of the realm, where the black market tend to do business. Sarai had made contact with the market to meet with a merchant, and when she arrived at the meeting spot, she met a tall handsome man with thin glasses and wearing a vested suit, along with a fedora with a feather in it. Oddly, she noticed there was some small toy doll of a bored-looking girl clinging to his arm.

"Pleased to meet you Mr. Vin." Sarai spoke, doing a polite bow.

"You seem like a good natured girl," Vin said, "What purpose could you possibly have for a tool of the devil's hands like this?"

"I need it to help my friends." Sarai stated, "Dana and Olga have been arrested and I don't have much time. There's someone I know who can help them, and I need that to get him here!"

The item in question was a strange boat with a griffon statue mounted on the front with an orb on it's back, the boat itself looked large enough to hold up to five people.

"My, that's a tall order." Vin said, tipping his hat, "To go against the Divine Justice Counsel is a great risk, even my associate Lokki was finally caught by them. Are you sure you and this friend can handle it?"

"M-Maybe not me, but I know Adol can do it. He's proven himself to do the impossible before!" Sarai said.

"Then let's get going," Vin nodded, "If what I've heard from my other associates about the counsel's plans is true, we may have less time then you think."

"Huh?" Sarai asked, "What do you mean?"

"I'll tell you on the way, just give me the location of your friend." Vin said, getting into the front seat of the boat and placing his hands on the orb.

* * *

Back on Earth, Adol was face-first on his bed again, trying desperately to go back to sleep in the hopes that Dana would contact him again. He just wanted to apologize, to tell her how he really felt about her. He was practically kicking himself for waiting so long to be honest with her.

"Ughh... damnit!" Adol shouted, pounding his fist into his pillow.

"Hey Adol, you still in here?" Dogi asked, walking into the bedroom and holding up a bag. "I brought some food."

"Not hungry." Adol muttered, his voice muffled by the pillow.

"Wanna tell me what's up? Somethin' about this friend of yours?" Dogi asked, sitting down on his own bed.

"Alright," sighed Adol sitting up, "I know this sounds crazy, but I've been speaking to this girl in my dreams."

"...you're right, it does sound crazy." Dogi simply said.

"I'm serious man, you wouldn't be able to remember her yourself, but she's someone I met four years ago. We have a connection, a bond that I've never felt with another person before. She's the person that's really made me feel complete for the past months."

Dogi's eyes widened as Adol spoke, and he maintained his focus on his friend.

"But... I screwed up... I said something I shouldn't have, and now I can't contact her anymore..."

Adol's expression then rose up and his eyes narrowed with a sharp stare, "I need to fix this and see her again!"

Dogi was originally going to clobber his friend over the head until his brain started working again, but after hearing what he just said, and taking a sharp look into Adol's eyes, full of determination, and as absurd as what he said was, Dogi couldn't help but believe Adol.

"You really think that way about this girl, huh?" Dogi asked scratching his chin.

"Yeah. I have no idea of how to see her, but I know I have to... I can't help it, I love her." Adol admitted to his friend.

Dogi couldn't help but sport a big grin after hearing all this.

"Love, huh? Never thought I'd see the day, my little buddy's growing up!" he said proudly, "If there's one thing I've known about you, is when you put your mind to something, you don't quit until you succeed. So I say we get out there, and find this girl! Doesn't matter how long it takes or what we have to do, and when we meet her you can pour your heart out to her!"

Adol couldn't help but grin at his friend as his spirits rose, while they could get into no end of trouble, the two of them were life-long fire-forged friends who could accomplish anything.

"Alright, let's go!" Adol said, grabbing his sword and running out the door.

"Uh, Adol, you forgot to put your pants o-" Dogi started to say.

"EEEK!" he hear the shouting of an old lady from outside.

"Never mind." Dogi said with a drop of sweat going down his head.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Realm of Maia, specifically the Temple of Justice's prison, Dana and Olga were locked in a cell, waiting their upcoming trial for their crimes. Olga was furiously banging on the cell door trying to get the attention of the guard.

"Allow me to speak to the Justice Counsel I say!" shouted Olga, "Dana is innocent, I demand to take full responsibility for these charges!"

"Settle down in there prisoner." the guard simply said, "Your trial will be later this day."

Olga scowled as she slumped against a wall, folding her arms, and pondering what to do. She looked own to Dana, who was currently crouched in a prayer position.

"There's little point for that now Godde... go..." Olga paused, realizing it wasn't the time for being formal with her friend anymore, "...Dana, prayers won't work when the gods themselves are against us..."

"I was hoping to get a message out to Maia herself," Dana sighed and stood up, "It was all I could think of to do..."

"Dana, I assure you that when we stand trial, I intend to plead guilty to all charges and take the blame off yourself." Olga said sternly.

"Olga, you can't do that, I did contact Adol, lots of times in fact!" Dana said.

She was at least happy to hear Olga finally referring to her by her name. Olga always strives herself on professionalism, but sometimes it felt like she would go too far with it, to the point where she would feel like it disconnected herself from her friends, but that didn't seem to be the case anymore.

"I don't regret a moment of my time with Adol, but you can't take the fall for my choice!"

"Dana... that's not the reason we're being tried." Olga sighed, "Everything was all my fault..."

"What...?"

Olga proceeded to explain to her what happened, purchasing the Mind Orb, taking control of Mimsy, having her flirt with Adol, and her reasons for it all.

"Wait, seriously?" Dana exclaimed, "So it was you that whole time?"

"Yes," sighed Olga, "I can't apologize enough for what I did. I had no idea the counsel would hold you accountable for my actions, but I can't forgive myself for it either. And you were right Dana, the bond between you and Adol is genuine, and I was a fool for trying to break that..."

Dana slowly walked up to Olga with her eyes closed. Olga nervously closed her own eyes, preparing herself for whatever Dana would do to punish her.

Whap!

"Ack! What th-?" Olga exclaimed, rubbing her forehead, of which Dana had whacked with a paper fan.

"There, the Goddess of Evolution has given you your punishment!" Dana said with a grin, seemingly trying to look as professional as possible, but failing to do so.

"I don't get it... why aren't you mad at me?" Olga asked in confusion.

"Because, you were doing all this with what you thought was my best interest in mind. You really care about me Olga, and just knowing that alone makes me happier then anything." Dana smiled pleasantly.

"Dana, I..." Olga stammered with tears forming in her eyes, realizing how wrong she was about everything.

"Plus, I'm happy to hear that Adol was only being tricked this whole time. I just wish I could speak to him myself and explain all this..." Dana said with an air of relief.

"I..." Olga paused, then she took to holding her friend by her hands and looking directly into her eyes, "I swear to you we'll find a way out of this, and you'll get to see Adol again! Then you can say what you wish to him, you have my blessing now!"

"Thanks Olga..." Dana said smiling, before the two friends hugged each other. There was no more secrets the two held from each other, and they felt closer then ever because of it.

* * *

"Hey Dogi, hurry up will you?"

Back on Earth, Adol was just leaving the village, waving his hand to the people who had come to bid him and Dogi goodbye, Dogi was just running up to him trying to balance some baggage on his back.

"Just had to take a second to get some supplies." Dogi said, "So where we going?"

"I'm not entirely sure, I was thinking maybe a Church of Maia could give us some information, or maybe some ancient temple..." Adol pondered.

"Well, let's get going then, it's not like a means of travel is just going to land right by us!" Dogi said.

A few seconds after that, Sarai and Vin arrived on the griffin boat right in front of Adol and Dogi.

"W-What the hell...?" Dogi asked in confusion.

"Destination reached," said Vin, "Watch your step."

"Adol!" exclaimed Sarai, she jumped out of the boat and ran right up to Adol, hugging him.

"S-Sarai?!" Adol exclaimed in surprise, "What's going on?!"

"Well I guess that was anti-climactic." Dogi rubbed the back of his head. "Is this your lady friend you were talking about? She's definitely cute enough to be it!"

"That's an odd measure of validation..." Vin said sweatdropping.

"Sarai," Adol spoke, "What's going on, what happened to Dana?"

"Dana... she and Olga are in danger! They've both been arrested by the Divine Justice Counsel!"

"What?!" exclaimed Adol.

"And from what my buddies have been telling me..." Vin said, tipping his hat, "The counsel isn't looking to give them much of a fair trial. Better get in quick, we don't have a lotta time."

"Alright!" said Dogi, not entirely sure of what was going on, but ready to help anyway, "Let's go!"

"Sorry big guy," said Vin, "This thing can only hold five people, and I gotta drive."

Sarai nodded, "And we'll need the last two seats for Dana and Olga!"

"Okay then," Adol said nodding, he looked to Dogi, "Sorry, but it looks like you'll have to wait for us."

"Heh, don't worry about me, just go give those bastards hell!" Dogi grinned with a thumbs up.

"Will do." smirked Adol. The two gave each other a fist bump, and then Adol and Sarai got into the boat's seats.

"Alright, we're heading off." Vin said, changing the course of the boat to the Temple of Justice.

* * *

On the trip to the temple, Sarai and Vin took the time to explain everything to Adol that they knew of.

"Wait, so Olga was controlling Mimsy the whole time?!"

"Yes, she was using some kind of device to manipulate that girl into spending time with you. Knowing Olga, I believe it was to drive you and Dana apart so she could stick to her tasks and not get in trouble!" Sarai said.

"Jees, was I really causing that much trouble for her?" Adol asked, with a bit of regret.

"Not at all!" said Sarai, "Olga means well, but her need to protect Dana can be too reckless for her own good. Dana was in nothing but high spirits ever since she started speaking with you Adol, she truly cares about you!"

"Dana..." Adol muttered, thinking back to the good times they shared, and how uplifted he himself was after reuniting with her. "Alright, let's go! I don't care what god gets in my way, I'm going to save her!" Adol shouted.

"Heh, not bad kid." Vin smirked, "Just trend lightly, that Divine Justice Counsel won't show mercy to law breakers, especially a mortal breaking into their shindig."

"So what was that you said before about Dana not getting a fair trial?" Adol asked.

"The counsel has already decided the two of them are guilty beyond the shadow of a doubt, they're going to have them be on trial for maybe a few minutes, find them guilty, then proceed to the sentence of demonization!" Sarai explained.

"D-Demonization? The hell is that?!" Adol asked.

"It's the process of transforming a god or servant into a mindless demon. They tend to be used for battle or to guard temples." explained Vin, "It might not be a literal death penalty, but it may as well be."

"Something like that just for controlling Mimsy?" Adol exclaimed.

"There's lots of dealings gods are making with dark artifacts over the past few years," Vin paused, "It's getting the Divine Counsel fed up, and they're likely using your friend's case to make an example of them, and show the other gods what happens when you break their rules." Vin explained.

"Well I'm not letting that happen to either Dana or Olga!" shouted Adol, he gripped the hilt of his sword, pumped for battle, "We're going to get them both out!"

"Sounds good, because we're almost there, hang on." said Vin as they pushed forward.

* * *

The griffin boat soon appeared in a secluded area of the Temple of Justice, where it docked by the edge of a balcony. Adol jumped out of the boat and helped Sarai out.

"You guys go on," Vin said, "I'll keep this thing running until you get back, and we'll figure out where to head off to afterwards."

"Thanks," Adol said, "So Sarai, where do we go to find them?"

"Um, I'm not exactly sure.." Sarai said, putting a finger to her lip in thought, causing Adol and Vin to facefault.

"Seriously?!" exclaimed Adol. "Then how do we know what to do?!"

"It's okay," Sarai said smiling, "I got a scout to help us!"

"A scout?"

That's when they heard a squealing sound, as a baby pig with wings on it's back flew overhead and landed down to the ground. It looked up at Adol and Sarai and snored, poking out it's snout.

"W-What is this?" Adol asked.

"It's one of Dana's creations, she hasn't given it a subspecies name yet, so I just call him Mr. Porkchops!" Sarai explained happily, petting the little pig.

"Cute..." Vin muttered.

"Did you find the location of the prison where Dana and Olga are?" she asked Porkchops.

The pig nodded and directed Adol and Sarai there, making sure they didn't have to deal with any guards on the way.

The two humans and flying pig arrived at a spot that allowed them to get a view of the prison entrance without being seen. It was simple door, and guards were marching in and out of it, the door seemed to open and shut by itself as the guards went through.

"You better go back to the Temple of Evolution Mr. Porkchops." Sarai told the pig, "And thank you so much."

Mr. Porkchops nodded and flew off, while Adol and Sarai took to waiting outside the entrance until they could find an opportunity to get in. Eventually they found one when a rather large and burly guard walked out of the prison entrance, and they stealthfully sneaked behind him into the entrance way before it closed.

Once in, the two of them were immediately spotted by a single guard at a check-in desk.

"Hey, what are you doing her-" The guard was quickly knocked out by Adol with a swing of his sword, while Sarai started searching the guard's desk for something helpful in their rescue mission, eventually finding a piece of paper with a layout of the prison. Conveniently it had been made with the location of Dana and Olga marked on the map, presumably to make bringing them to the trial quicker. Actually it seemed more like a cheat sheet than anything, but they weren't complaining.

Adol and Sarai ran down the halls, using the map as guidance, and taking to either hide from guards or just have Adol knock them out. The thought of Dama and Olga being safe was all Adol needed to make him hurry.

Eventually they arrived at one door that was under protection by two guards, but there was also a strange device beside them. Adol and Sarai peeked out from a corner to get a look at it.

"What is that thing?" Adol asked.

"It's an alarm, if they see us they'll likely sound it off and we'll never get out of here..." Sarai explained, consulting the map for another route but finding nothing.

"If we had a way to distract them long enough I could knock them out before they hit the alarm." Adol observed.

"Hmm..." Sarai pondered, "I might have an idea..."

The two guards were frankly bored out of their mind watching the door, they had been there for three hours already and were impatient for some kind of action. It was then they heard a faint, high pitched sound, echoing through the halls nearby, after listening to it for a short while they realized it sounded like someone crying.

"What is that? One of the prisoners?" asked one of the guards.

"I dunno, let's see." said the other.

The two of them turned a corner and saw Sarai in the middle of the hall on her knees with her hands over her eyes, crying her eyes out.

"H-Hey, who is that?" the guard asked his partner.

"Not sure... State your business here maiden, before we sound the alarm!"

"I-I'm lost..." Sarai sobbed, "I have no idea how to get home!"

"L-Lost? Who are you exactly?" asked the guard in confusion. As they questioned her, Adol meanwhile was hiding behind a corner, gripping his sword and waiting for a chance to strike.

"I-I'm a disciple of the great Goddess of Intercourse! I'm not sure how, but I got lost from her temple and found myself in this scary place!"

"That temple... isn't that temple the place where they...?" whispered one guard to the other with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, I've always wanted to see that place for myself." said the other guard nodding.

"I-I'm so scared... I'd do anything to leave this place..." Sarai looked up at the two guards, her face blushed red as she placed a finger on the top of robe, slowly moving the cloth to expose part of her chest. "Anything..."

The two guards blushed brightly, along with a bit of drool hanging from their mouths.

One of them straightened himself up and said to the other, "V-Very well, you notify the captain of the guard, I'll watch over this maiden. She'll be safe with me, so go ahead and take your time!"

"What do you mean?!" said the other guard, "I'll watch over the maiden and YOU go contact the captain!"

"I'm a higher rank then you!"

"I need the experience!"

"What experience you talking about?!"

"What do you think you moron?!"

"Okay, that's it!"

Adol was about to jump out and attack, until he saw the two guards start pummeling each other, fighting over who got to watch over Sarai.

When the battle between the two stopped, both guards were on the ground out cold from beating each other into unconsciousness.

"Um... that turned out better then expected." Adol said sweatdropping, "Nice acting job, Sarai. Now let's get going!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Sarai said to the two guards as Adol slashed the alarm apart to keep it from going off and the two continued on.

* * *

Dana and Olga meanwhile were still in their cell, awaiting their trial. While Olga was tapping her foot, trying to formulate a plan, while Dana was sitting back thinking to herself about Adol, she turned to Olga and spoke up.

"Olga, are you sure Adol really misses me? I told you about how we fought before, and well... I was being kind of a jerk to him before he left, and I feel like I may have taken something he said and blew it way out of proportion..."

"It's fine," Olga said, "Friends argue all the time."

"Yes, but... I hadn't even made any effort to speak to him for the past two weeks, I'm kinda afraid he might have given up on me..."

"Not likely," Olga shook her head, "I got to know Adol first hand when I was controlling that Mimsy woman. It seemed like there was never a moment when he wasn't thinking of you... ...well that and paying off his village debts."

"Really?" Dana asked, her eyes lighting up.

"Yes, I wasn't sure what to think of Adol for the longest time beyond just him getting in your way, but from what I've seen of him he's a truly kind man, and he cares about you greatly." Olga nodded to her own words. It was a huge relief for Olga to speak the truth to her friend, as well as herself.

Dana smiled softly and blushed, hugging her legs. She wondered at that point if the two of them could ever-

"Dana!"

Dana and Olga's eyes widened as they heard someone running down the hall.

"A-Adol?!" Dana turned to the prison door, recognizing the voice.

"Hey, who are yo-" the guard watching their cell shouted, seconds before he was taken down in a single blow by Adol, who then rushed over to the girls' cell.

"Dana, we found you!" shouted Adol, pressing his hands against the bars.

"It's really you, Adol?!" exclaimed Dana getting up, "What are you doing here?!"

"I'm here to save you of course!" Adol said, he looked around the cell for a way to undo the lock door and noticed a device attached to the door like all the others. There was a hand print scanner on it, but his own hand wouldn't work, so he lifted the guard up by his arm and used his hand to scan the device. This finally got the door open.

And almost as soon as the door opened, Dana ran forward and embraced Adol, who hugged her right back without hesitation.

"Adol," she muttered, burying her face in his shoulder. "I didn't think I'd see you again!"

"Dana, I'm sorry..." he whispered, relishing in the hug, "I said some thoughtless things before, and I didn't stop to think about what it meant to you..."

"It's fine Adol, it's fine, I was being a jerk too! I don't care what happened before, I'm just happy now!" Dana said.

Despite the danger of the situation, the red hared swordsman and the blue haired goddess were the happiest they've been in weeks. Even though Adol had met Dana constantly over the past months, this was the first time the two had been truly able to hold each other like they had in years. It felt just le the moment the two had before they separated from each other four years ago, it was a feeling they would both never forget. However instead of a farewell, in this case it was a true reunion, and the emptiness that had filled both of them for two weeks was quickly driven away, the two of them truly felt complete now.

"Adol..." Olga said walking out from the cell herself, "Just what the hell are you doing here of all plac-"

"Olga!" shouted Sarai who ran up and hugged her friend tightly.

"S-Sarai?! You too?!" Olga exclaimed.

"She's the reason I even got here." Adol said, "Come on, let's scram before they come for you!"

"It's fine, I've already decided I'm going to do what's necessary to take the full blame for this crime. I plan to make an appeal to the cour-" Olga started to explain, but was cut off by Sarai.

"No Olga, you don't understand!" she said, "The counsel has no intention on giving you two a fair trial. They've already decided that the two of you are guilty, and bringing you to the court is just a formality before they demonize you both!"

Dana's eyes widened from hearing that. She had always thought the gods were fine individuals, maybe a bit strict about their rules, but it wasn't without a good reason. Hearing this however made her see a lot of the frustrations she had before over the law in a different light...

"W-What?!" exclaimed Olga, she snarled and clenched her fist, "Those bastards!"

"But how are we going to get out of here Adol?" Dana asked.

"We got ourselves a ride, but we'll need to hurry." said Adol.

"Are you crazy?!" shouted Olga, "You intend to get away from the Divine Justice Counsel? They are supreme gods, and you're just a mere mortal! You try to escape with Dana and you'll be running from them to the ends of the Earth and beyond!"

"Let them come then!" Adol said, narrowing his eyes, "I don't care if these bastards are people, monsters or gods..."

"I'll protect Dana no matter what!"

Olga's eyes were wide, and her mouth agape in shock, hearing those words echo through her mind, as she thought about the resolve she had some time ago, to protect her goddess.

'I... I was truly a fool or what I did...' Olga admitted to herself once more, those words of Adol's solidifying her regret.

Dana meanwhile was preoccupied swaying around dizzy with joy and embarrassment from hearing Adol say those words about her.

"Come on, we need to get you both out of here." Adol repeated.

"R-Right..." Olga said, she looked down and saw the unconscious guard's spear and picked it up, she held it firmly to test it's durability and equipped it. "Fine, the four of us will go together!"

And with that they ran for the exit. As they entered the barracks area of the prison, two guards were practicing with new weapons, one with twin curved swords, and the other with a battleaxe. The two turned to see Adol and Olga both running at them, but before the guards could even start their attack, they were both knocked out.

Dana then stopped and paused as she looked down at the curved swords of the one guard and picked them up and looked them over.

"Can you wield those alright?" Adol asked.

Dana just gave a smug grin as she spun them around in her hands and struck a pose.

"No problem." said Dana with a wink.

The three then turned to see Sarai looking down at the battleaxe, nudging it with her foot. Then she started trying to lift it up upside down by the middle of it's handle, before losing her balance and falling over, the battleaxe harmlessly hitting the ground.

"I'm sorry everyone..." she muttered.

"I-It's okay," Olga said, trying to comfort her, "The three of us should be enough, Sarai..."

* * *

"What's going on here?!" shouted the Captain of the Guards; Manolis, "Why are my men either unconscious or hiding under their beds?!"

"T-There's been a prison escape!" said a guard who the captain had grabbed by their lapel, "A mortal has somehow invaded the temple and is trying to leave with the Goddess of Evolution and her associate!"

"A mortal you say...?" asked Captain Manolis, scowling and throwing the scared guard away like a ragdoll before turning to his other men. "Hold back your positions, and allow them to try and think they have a chance to escape!"

"B-But sir, what should we do then?" asked another guard.

Captain Manolis sneered and said, "Deploy number seventy-two."

"Seventy-two?! But are you sure, that thing could kil-" the guards' question was stopped with a hard punch across the face.

"Any more hesitation and they'll be free as birds! Move it!" Manolis shouted.

* * *

Adol, Dana, Olga and Sarai hurried through the corridors of the prison, using the map to trace their way back to the entrance of the prison.

"So tell me," Olga spoke up, running along side Adol, "How do you intend to get all of us out of here exactly?"

"It's fine," spoke up Sarai, "I managed to obtain a means of travel to escape back to Earth!"

"How did you manage to do that?" Olga asked, baffled.

"I, um..." Sarai spoke somewhat innocently, "Sort of went through the same connections you did for a certain orb..."

Olga was a little shocked at the brazenness of her friend for just a second, but then smirked.

"Nice going, Sarai." she said.

Meanwhile Dana looked forward and saw what was ahead, "Yes, I think we found the entrance!"

The four of them proceeded to run faster, but a sense of unease was surrounding Adol and Dana in particular the closer they got to the entrance.

"H-Hey Adol," Dana spoke, "Does that room look odd to you...?"

"I-It seems they cleared out all the furniture in there, and now it's a... circular empty room..." Adol muttered, gripping his blade tightly.

"Huh?" What's so strange about a circular empty room?" Olga asked with a question mark over her head.

"Let's just say we have experience with this kind of thing while traveling..." Adol groaned, dreading what he was certain was to come.

"I just wish there was something nearby to help us recover our strength..." Dana said worriedly, confusing the other two.

The second the four of them stepped into the empty circular room, the door in front of them closed up, and then the one behind them.

"Damnit!" shouted Olga, "A trap!"

"I guess the fact there weren't any guards in our way should had been a dead giveaway..." Adol said.

"I wonder what this thing's gonna to be like." sighed Dana.

"Really, what are you guys talking about?" asked Olga.

Their conversation was interrupted by a clapping sound. Everyone looked to the source, it was Prison Captain Manolis, sporting a smug smirk on his face.

"Well well, so you thought you could just waltz in here, grab some prisoners, and flee with them, eh mortal?" he asked, "You're going to see what happens when you antagonize me, the great Captain of the guard, Manolis!"

"Do you guys know who this Madelyn guy is?" Adol asked, turning to the others.

"Nope." said Dana.

"I've never seen him before." said Sarai.

"Not a clue, but he has a pretty girly name..." said Olga.

"Hey! I said my name is Manolis, Man-o-lis! take me seriously here!" Captain Manolis exclaimed, getting unusually upset about it. He quickly regained his composure and cleared his throat, "Mortal, you have committed a truly grave crime in doing this. I've staked my pride as captain of the guard for the Temple of Justice, respecting the laws it's made and ensuring it's security. Seeing someone not just managing to break in like this, but being a mere mortal of Earth breaking into the Realm of Maia itself, is a disgrace to everything I stand for!"

He glared to the four to see their looks of fear, only to see them not listening to anything he was saying and instead looking around the closed off room.

"Do you see another way out this room, everyone?" Olga asked, feeling the walls.

"No, but I found some loose change." Dana said, crawling around on her hand and knees.

"Pay attention!" exclaimed Manolis, who if anyone was actually looking at him at that exact moment would had seen the beginning of tears in his eyes.

"Now, Goddess of Evolution;" Manolis started loudly, finally getting their attention, "I'm going to be generous today with you and am willing to assume this escape was not your planning. If you surrender to me and meet me in my personal quarters momentarily, I'll speak to the counsel about overlooking this particular crime, do as I say and I might even have them dismiss your charge completely."

"I refuse." Dana said without even a second of hesitation, "I'm escaping from this place along with all my friends!" She brandished her blades and went into a fighting stance, narrowing her eyes at the captain, "And I'll add, you're a total creep!"

"Yeeeah, that was pretty scummy of you to say Madison." Adol said.

"That was terrible." Sarai agreed.

"The worst." nodded Olga.

Captain Manolis reacted to all four of their comments like arrows piercing into him.

"You damn... That's it, bring in the secret weapon, number seventy-two, Lokitare!" he shouted.

Suddenly, down from the ceiling landed a giant demonic creature, the best way to describe it would be a giant red crocodile, but with longer legs and a whip-like tail, as well as rows of spikes lines along it's back.

"Hoo boy," Adol said, going into a fighting stance, "Can't say I didn't see this coming."

"It's fine," Dana said, wielding her blades, "We'll strike down this thing and escape together!"

"Yes, prepare yourselves!" Olga said, gripping her spear.

"Um... you guys have fun..." Sarai said, "I'm just going to be over here in the corner not being in the way..." she said, backing up with a sweet smile on her face.

The large demon, classified as 'Punished Demon Number Seventy-Two, Lokitare' roared out and stomped a foot down, ready to fight.

Adol, Dana and Olga all charged in with their weapons. Lokitare turned and swung out it's tail, but the three leaped into the air and slashed the demon across it's back. They then landed down and started wailing away on it's sides. The creature snarled and turned it's legs before smacking the three away with it's long tail.

Lokitare then knelt down into a pouncing position, but instead of lunging out, it actually fired the spikes on it's back out of it's body and into the air, sending a rain of thorns down on the group. They managed to dodge most of the spikes, but were gazed a few times. The spikes on the creature even regrew from it's back, giving the team the assumption they could constantly regenerate.

Time for thinking was cut though when Lokitare came at Adol with it's teeth, but Dana managed to swipe her blade across it's eye to scar it. Lokitare screeched in pain, but smacked the two away with it's front leg.

"This thing is strong," said Olga, "Anything you two can think of to fight it?"

"Hm, maybe if it had a better weak point we could expose..." Dana observed.

Adol contemplated what Dana said, and his thoughts turned to the creature's back when it fired the spikes, and an idea quickly occurred to him.

"Expose... that's it! Everyone, I have a plan!" he turned and whispered to Dana and Olga.

"Brilliant!" Olga said upon hearing the plan, her eyes lit up.

"It'll be tough, but we can pull it up!" Dana said with determination.

"Alright, let's go!" Adol said, he and Dana charged towards the monster, dodging it's wipes and slashes, while delivering some slash attacks of their own. Soon the monster was fed up and roared, sending the two to back off, and it knelt down, ready to fire off another round of spikes from it's back.

"Olga, now!" shouted Adol. Olga then leaped into the air, over the spike rain. She brought back her spear and hurdled it downwards, causing it to impact right into one of the holes in Lokitare's back from where a spike was fired from. The spear impaled itself deep into the demon's body, causing it to roar out in pain.

"What?!" exclaimed Manolis, "How did they-?!"

"Great, it's defenses are down!" Adol exclaimed, "Let's finish it!"

Adol and Dana then charged right in and started going to town on the demon, it could barely attempt to get a hit in while the two slashed and cut it with hesitation. Soon the two of them dealt a final attack that caused the demon to screech out and collapse to the ground. It weakly struggled a bit, as it gave a strange toothy grin, before falling over dead.

Having achieved victory over the demon, Adol, Dana, and Olga all let out a collective sigh of relief.

"We did it!" exclaimed Dana, "And what a rush, this reminds me of back when we used to travel together on Seiren Island!"

"You really do enjoy this sort of thing, don't you Dana?" Olga said, looking to her friend with a small smile.

"Hey everyone, I got the captain!" Sarai spoke up, she had the man hogtied up in ropes, and he was squirming and struggling to break free.

"Y-You guys are bullies!" Manolis sobbed, "I hate you! I hate you I hate you I ha-!"

His screaming was silenced by Olga bringing the heel of her leg down on his head, knocking him out cold.

"Now that's over with, let's leave." she said.

* * *

After getting the entrance door open, the four sneaked out and headed for the location of the balcony where Vin and the transporter were.

However, as the four were running, Olga couldn't help but think something was wrong.

"This place seems oddly deserted..." Olga said, "I would had at least expected more guards to get in our wa-"

Her eyes widened as she came to a stop, as she recalled what happened back in the prison.

"Wait!" She screamed to them, "It's another tr-" but her mouth was quickly muffled.

Meanwhile, Adol, Dana and Olga arrived at the griffin boat, but while it was there, the merchant Vin wasn't.

"Is this how we're getting out of here?" Dana said looking the boat over, "What a weird device."

"Yes, but..." Sarai said, looking around, "Where did Mr. Vin go? He's the only one that can control this boat properly."

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Adol muttered.

"Hey wait a minute, has anyone seen Olga?" Dana realized, looking around.

"Freeze!" a voice shouted, as almost out of nowhere, dozens of guards leaped out of the shadows and surrounded the three, all aiming spears at them.

"Uh oh." Adol muttered. They were in a bad situation, if they hadn't been so weakened from just having fought the demon earlier they might have stood a chance against the guards, but there were too many for them to handle at that point, plus there was no real place for them to escape since Vin was gone.

The three were forced to surrender as the guards restrained them, and they were led over to the Court of the Divine Justice Counsel, there they saw Olga had been captured as well, and standing before them was the high-ranking counsel member Lady Xithena.

"Dana, I'm sorry." said Olga sadly.

"It would seem..." Lady Xithena sneered as she looked around, "That we need to step up our security and their discipline around this temple."

The Goddess of Judgment slowly walked up to Dana, glaring down at her.

"Lady Dana, Goddess of Evolution," she started, "You've been charged with multiple crimes; at first it was just interfering with Earth mortals, but we now add escaping prison, assaulting guards and attempting to further use dark artifacts for your own gain."

Dana didn't say a word, but just glared at Xithena. After what Sarai had said about their intention, she found herself unable to have any respect for the Goddess of Judgment, or the Divine Counsel as a whole at that point.

"Which reminds me..." Xithena said, turning to Sarai, "The black market merchant you were to meet with escaped when we spotted him. He said he had to apologize for not being able to fulfill his end of the agreement, and gave you a small refund." she tossed a few essence stones that Sarai had used to pay Vin on the ground in front of her. Sarai couldn't help but gulp nervously.

Xithena then turned back to Dana and looked down at her, "Do you have something to say for yourself Goddess of Evolution, before we have you punished?" she asked.

"...only that I think I'm done with you and your corrupt counsel." Dana said angerly, "I've only been a goddess for four years, but I can already see you put yourself on a pedestal above all other gods, and instead of using the laws to ensure the safety of this realm, you use fear to make everyone practically bow down to you!"

Even in that tense moment, Adol was impressed to see Dana so brave in the face of someone so powerful. It was no doubt she was strong, one of the things that he loved so much about her.

"Hmph, fear is essential to the way of law and order. The greatest weakness of a god is their old human emotions, it makes them weak and vulnerable to immoral temptations. It would be better if all the gods had no emotion to feel..." Xithena said sternly.

"That's a terrible way to think, emotions aren't a weakness, they're what keep us strong and compassionate to the world of mortals! It's the reason I was able to save the world all those years ago, and be allowed to become the Goddess of Evolution!" Dana shouted.

"Rubbish, I myself have cast aside things like happiness, sorrow and love so that I may judge this realm fairly and justly." Xithena stated.

"Fairly and justly? You call this trial fair and just?" shouted Dana to Xithena, "You attempted to sentence us without so much as allowing us to speak on our own behalf!"

"That's because there's no excuses for you Lady Dana, your sentence must be carried out swiftly so the other gods know their place, and fear our power. Fear is the only thing that keeps you lesser gods in line," Xithena narrowed her eyes, "And I'll see to it that you're used to make the other gods understand what happens when they so much as step out of line."

"So you are just using us to control the other gods..." Dana said coldly, "You said you cast aside your emotions, but apparently not your pride and arrogance, you disgust me!"

"Hmph, if that's the way you see it, then fine. It doesn't matter anyway, after your demonization you won't be thinking of anything anymore." Xithena said simply.

Dana replied to that by simply spitting in Xithena's face, causing the counsel to gasp and speak frantically to each other.

"Nice one." Olga whispered with a small smirk.

"SILENCE!" boomed Xithena, as the spit ran down her face. "I think I've heard enough. It's time for the Goddess of Evolution and her assistant to have their punishments carried out. Prepare the demonization ritual!"

"Adol!" shouted Dana, struggling as the guards started to take her and Olga away.

"No!" shouted Adol, he too struggled with the guards restraining him. With enough effort, he was able to break free of them, grab his sword from a nearby guard who had confiscated it, and ran forward, knocking away the guards that had been handling Dana and Olga. He stood in front of Dana with his sword out, ready to fight anyone who tried to attack them.

"Foolish mortal," smirked Xithena, "Do you truly think you can escape the pure essence of the law itself?"

"Doesn't matter what you are, I'll keep fighting to the end," said Adol, narrowing his eyes, "I'm not going to lose Dana ever again!"

Lady Xithena didn't say anything, but simply snapped her fingers, prompting the guards to all charge in at the three. But before any fighting could even begin...

"HOLD IT!"

Everyone stopped in their tracks as they saw someone new walk into the court.

"It's you..." muttered Xithena with wide eyes.

"W-Who is that?" Adol asked.

* * *

**_Well that does it for this chapter, I'll start on the final chapter as soon as I can. I can assure you, there will be some surprises still in store for the plot, so look forward to it!_**


	7. Chapter 7

**_This is it people, the final chapter, everything's going to come together, and the resolution of Adol and Dana's story will finally conclude, so enjoy!_**

* * *

"Who is that?" Adol said, seeing a new person walk into the courtroom.

She was a very beautiful woman, quite tall, but not as tall as Lady Xithena. She was carrying a type of staff with a scale mounted on the top of it, while her clothes consisted of a pure white robe with a blue sash holding it together. She came to a stop and took a look around to see everyone, as if she was reading up the situation without any words.

"J-Justice Minister Phosheia?" exclaimed Xithena, "You're back so soon from your investigation?"

"Wait, she's the justice minister of the counsel?" Adol asked Dana and the other girls.

"I don't really know much about her other then she's the Goddess of Justice, and that she rarely ever shows herself in this court except for the bigger cases. I suppose it would only be fitting that she'd be the highest position on the counsel." Dana explained.

"T-This doesn't bode well..." Olga said.

"My investigation is still under way," said Phosheria, "But I've been told of some recent events going on; about a rise in the black market deals going on, an attempted jailbreak, as well as a mortal invading the Realm of Maia... I'm beginning to suspect leaving you in charge of things was foolish on my part Xithena."

"P-Please forgive me, Justice Minister!" Xithena said frantically. The group had to admit it was an odd sight to see such a stern woman who cast aside her emotions as she spoke about earlier being so flustered. "But one of our newest goddesses has committed unforgivable crimes recently!"

"Ah yes, Lady Dana, you're the new Goddess of Evolution." said Phosheia, looking straight at the blue haired girl, who was standing beside Adol, "Having been chosen as a goddess by Maia herself is a great honor and blessing, and I'm curious as to what drove you to decide to defy the laws of our realm after so little time."

"Forgive me, but I must protest!" shouted Olga, "I was the one who used the black market artifact! It was my mistake alone, and Dana had nothing t-!"

"Watch your tongue maiden," said Phosheia with a sharp glare, shutting Olga up, "This isn't about the Mind Orb or any of the dark artifacts. No, I'm here about the mortal invading this place... as well as Lady Dana bringing that mortal here through his dreams."

Everyone gasped out at the mention of the latter, especially Dana and Adol.

"You knew about that?!" Dana exclaimed.

"Higher gods such as myself have far greater power then you realize," Phosheia said, "I'm well aware of much of what you and the red tomato did in hiding."

"Tomato...?" Adol muttered, rubbing his red hair.

"This is glorious..." smirked Xithena, "Your crimes are even greater then I expected, so-called Goddess of Evolution. Your punishment shal-"

"Quiet you." Phosheia said to Xithena, "We're not done."

"Y-Yes Justice Minister..."

"First of all, I'd like to hear from the red tomato." she said, 'Please state your name and occupation for this court."

Adol spoke up "M-My name is Adol Cristin, I'm an adventurer."

"Mr. Red Tomato.." she started, "You have entered our realm, a forbidden act in and of itself, assaulted our guards, slayed a prison demon guard, and attempted to free criminals of this realm. What reason drove you do to all this?"

"Well..." Adol started, but was cut off from his thoughts.

"And I want the absolute truth." Phosheia said, her eyes glowing an eerie white, "Try to hide anything from me, and you will suffer the consequences."

Adol paused, staring down, he looked over to Olga and Sarai, who seemed to be at a loss of what to say, then to Dana and looked deeply into her green eyes.

After a moment to think, Adol then took a deep breath, he knew what he was going to say could be risky, and maybe even a little corny... But he decided to screw it, and he'd just speak from the heart.

"I met Dana years ago, as we saw each other in our dreams. I felt even at that time we had some sort of connection, and when I traveled through Seiren Island to find out what had happened there, I grew to learn more about her, and that I truly felt I had some kind of bond with her. Then I finally met Dana, and I could feel that connection even more then ever. We traveled together, spoke at the campfire, fought giant monsters, explored the island, we had formed a great bond together, more then I felt about anyone, even my best friend..."

He took a breath, trying his best to hold back his tears as he thought about what they had gone through.

"...t-then she gave her life to save the Earth, and after that she was chosen to become the new Goddess of Evolution. To be honest I felt torn from it. While I wanted to support her in her new life, the next four years I also felt that bond we had was slipping away, I couldn't accept that she would be out of my life forever, and an emptiness started forming inside of me."

He looked straight at Phosheia, without letting her intimidating glare unnerve him.

"I don't care who or what gets in my way, not even a god, even if it means breaking her out of prison and angering the gods of this realm, even if it means running from them my whole life, I know I had to see Dana again and protect her, she completes me..."

He then turned to Dana, whose emerald eyes were forming tears from his words, preparing herself for what he was about to say.

"...and I love her."

Tears then finally began to fall down Dana's cheeks, her face flushed red and her body was trembling ever so slightly, not by the fear or sadness she felt before, but pure happiness. She at that moment was holding back every urge possible to run up and hold him.

"A-Adol..."

The Divine Justice Counsel was at a loss for words hearing Adol's words and Dana's reaction, the idea of a mortal and goddess having a bond so close seemed unheard of, to them it had to be some kind of rouge for the mortal to seize power or something.

Olga meanwhile folded her arms and nodded with a small smile on her face, while Sarai held her hands together beaming with happiness at hearing Adol finally confess his feelings for their best friend.

"I see..." Phosheia said.

Suddenly the moment was broken by the high-pitched sound of some female voices going "Kyyyaaa!" somewhere in the distance.

"W-What the hell was that?" Olga looked around.

"I... believe, from the pitch of that squeal that was the Goddess of Literature and her disciples." said Phosheia, "It appears the mortal has inspired their next project."

"Quit ease-dropping!" Xithena scolded the unseen girls.

"Anyway..." Phosheia muttered to change the subject, "I have heard enough from the mortal. Now I wish to hear from Lady Dana, about her contacting this mortal through his dreams. While not the same as bringing him here physically, this in itself is still considered a crime against this realm. State what your reasoning was."

"V-Very well..." Dana said, "Indeed, Adol speaks the truth a-about his feelings. I saw he was quite saddened... and um... I felt I was hurting him greatly, and I only... wished to help him... to... help... to..."

Dana paused, not even sure of what she was saying anymore. She looked to Adol, who nodded to her in assurance.

"It's okay," Adol whispered, "Just say what you really mean."

She nodded, and turned to Phosheia. Instead of trying to restrain herself, she decided to speak from the heart as well.

"No, the truth is that Adol is important to me too! I felt that same emptiness he did for the past four years, and I needed to see him just as much. We've talked, laughed, sparred, quarreled, and connected again over the past months, it made me feel truly complete. When I couldn't speak to him for the past two weeks, it hurt me more then almost everything I've had to do in my life! The laws of this realm may prohibit me from seeing him in the mortal world, but frankly I don't care one bit about that! I've spent my whole life, mortal and beyond. having to set aside my happiness for the world, but I'm going to tell you right now that it's my deepest desire to see the world and experience it for myself, alongside Adol!" she said with pure determination and confidence.

"T-This is absurd," said Xithena, "Her mortal emotions are clearly getting in the way of her sense of judgment, Justice Minister Phosheia! She's not fit to be a goddess of such caliber in the slightest!"

There was a slight pause, but Dana nodded and smiled to Xithena, realizing now what she needed to say to everyone.

"You know what... I think you're right Lady Xithena, which brings me to my next point... I think perhaps I'm truly not cut out to be a goddess after all. For the longest time it's made me feel a sense of purpose, to have Earth Goddess Maia bless me with the power to change the world and shape it into a better future... But the emptiness I felt from losing Adol is a weakness no amount of godly power could ever fix. If being a true Goddess of Evolution means losing Adol forever, then I'd rather not be one at all, because you see..."

She then turned to Adol and smiled beautifully.

"I love him too."

Adol's face flushed almost as bright red as his hair at that moment, as faint tears were forming in his eyes. Even in such a dire situation, he couldn't feel any happier to hear Dana say those words to him, and he was holding back his desire to hold her right then himself.

The crowd gasped again, and started speaking to each other, the idea of a goddess outright denouncing their title and power for the sake of an attraction to a mere mortal human was impossible to them all.

"I see..." muttered Phosheia again.

The Justice Minister seemed to be in deep thought, not saying a word. Frankly it disturbed everyone around her, and sent chills down the spines of Adol, Dana, Olga and Sarai especially, making them worry about what was to happen to the four of them.

It was then however that the Justice Minster started making a small sound, almost impossible to decipher, but it became slightly louder, almost like a chuckle, then that become a true chuckle, then a giggle, then a laugh, until the Minister of the Divine Justice Counsel threw her head back laughing like crazy.

'W-What?!' the entire crowd, including the four accused, thought to themselves.

"Ha ha ha... I apologize..." Phosheia said, calming down and wiping a tear from her eyes, "It's just been so long since I've heard such pure truth and heart from not just a mortal tomato, but from a goddess as well. So everything I saw was indeed true."

"Everything...?" Dana asked.

"Yes, as I said, I was watching over the two of you during your little meetings. You just didn't notice me because I was in plain sight."

"Huh?"

Phosheia's staff gave off a soft glow and in a flash of light, where the justice minister once was, there was now a small, somewhat familiar-looking creature.

"A-A butterfly?!" Dana exclaimed.

Phosheia then changed back to her goddess form, she smirked slightly, and spoke again.

"By the way Mr. Tomato, you have a very comfortable forehead."

"Forehead...?" Adol pondered, before he suddenly realized, "Wait... you were THAT butterfly, the one from the balcony at Dana's temple?!"

"Because you were fairly new to being a goddess," Phosheia then told Dana, "I decided to keep an eye on you in between my investigations of the black market. It surprised me to see you capable of using your young power to bring a mortal to this realm so easily, and without anyone knowing as well." Phosheia explained.

"Y-You saw everything..." Dana said blushing, thinking back to that moment when Adol had fallen on top of her.

"Yes, I watched over you almost each time, at first I thought the two of you might had been plotting something to conspire against the other gods, but it seemed your only priority was being together. I must admit it was quite sweet... something I had never seen between a mortal and god."

Phosheia seemed a little distant when she said that last part, but continued.

"And then seeing Mr. Red Tomato over there risk his life to come here to the Realm of Maia, all for the sake of his bond and love for you, it was quite inspiring, even now when you two were faced to be separated forever, he still fought back to protect you, and your own resolve to be with him, even in spite of what could happen to you was quite admirable."

"But Justice Minister," said Xithena, "Regardless of their motivation, they still broke the law, and there's still the matter of her adviser using the Mind Orb!"

"Hey! As I said, that was all on me!" shouted Olga, "Dana had nothing to do with that! I was the one that controlled that woman!"

"Controlled you say?" asked Phosheia, "Hardly, you did nothing of the sort."

"What?" everyone said in unison.

Phosheia's staff glowed once again, and in another flash of light,from where she stood was now a familiar sight to the accused.

"Y-You..." Adol started.

"...can't be..." Dana continued.

"...serious." Olga finished.

"Hi Adol!" Mimsy said waving, "I'm your biggest fan!"

"WHAT?!" shouted everyone in the court.

"Mimsy, y-you were the Justice Minister all that time?!" exclaimed Adol.

"Yes," said Phosheia, changing back, "During my time investigating into the dark artifact black market, I learned Ms. Olga here purchased a Mind Orb, so I decided to take the form of a prime target for her to use it on, so I may analyze it's potential, and hopefully lead me to whoever was behind it's creation, I've actually gathered quite a bit of information thanks to it."

"But I was controlling your mind, you were even doing my fighting style!" Olga stated in confusion.

"You weren't commanding me in the slightest." Phosheia shrugged, "The Mind Orb can theoretically be used to control others, but those without the right amount of power could barely control an ant. I simply followed as you ordered to make you think that."

"But the dealer told me that even someone who isn't a god like myself could still use it on the weak-minded!" Olga said.

"Yes, but he also sold you out during his trial to try for a lesser sentence, he wasn't exactly the most trustworthy black market merchant." Phosheia said.

"Ugh, I suppose that's a good point..." sighed Olga in embarrassment.

"This is so confusing..." Dana said, staggering around with her eyes spiraling.

"Tell me about it, that ditzy weirdo glasses girl was a goddess of law that whole time...?" Adol groaned, rubbing his head.

"Oh come off it," Phosheia said with a mild laugh, "You know you had fun adventuring with me. I mean, I have to admit I enjoyed myself as well, and I'm quite sure your friend Olga did too, despite not actually being in control of Mimsy."

"Y-Yeah, yeah I was..." Adol admitted.

"I... I guess so.." Olga agreed, despite being embarrassed and bothered. She had to admit this turn of events did explain Mimsy's odd amounts of endurance she had when fighting the monsters and bandits they faced during their quests around the town.

After a moment of pause, Phosheia spoke up once more.

"Very well, I've seen the evidence and heard the testimony, I believe I'm ready to make my choice on the fates of the four accused."

Adol and Dana found themselves holding each other's hand tightly, while Olga and Sarai looked on with worry.

"Lady Dana, Goddess of Evolution, allow me to start by saying I have a firm respect for the Earth Goddess Maia, but I believe in at least this one case she was perhaps too hasty to appoint you into this position, I feel you lack experience, wisdom and some discipline to be able to truly perform your duty as required."

Dana's hand squeezed Adol's tighter as Phosheia continued.

"As such, for your crimes of bringing a mortal to this realm, attempted escape from prison, and assaulting guards, I sentence you... to 40 years suspended from your position as the Goddess of Evolution. You will spend your sentence on Earth as a mortal, and at the end of which time, you'll return to the Temple of Evolution and resume your duties as the Goddess."

"W-What...?" Dana said with wide eyes.

"Next, for the two of you, Olga and Sarai," Phosheia continued, "For your crimes of the purchase and usage of dark artifacts with the intent to use it for mortal interference, as well as assault of our guards and obstruction of justice, I sentence the both of you to 40 years on Earth as mortals as well. During which time you are to stay by Lady Dana's side, protecting her and seeing to her needs. Upon the end of your sentence, Lady Dana will be free to decide what your future beyond your mortal lives shall be."

"Yes Justice Minister!" Olga said, looking like she was on the verge of tears.

"O-Of course!" Sarai said bowing.

"And as for you Adol Tomato Cristin..." she said, turning to the swordsman.

'She just had to get that tomato remark in there somewhere didn't she?' he thought to himself.

"On the charge of trespassing in the Realm of Gods, assaulting guards, freeing prisoners, and obstructing justice... Your punishment shall be a test of your loyalty to Lady Dana. You are hereby bound to her for not just her entire sentence, but eternity as well. After her suspension is over, you will then join her in the Temple of Evolution. You are to stand by her side and see to her morale and well-being, in both life on Earth and in the Realm of the Gods. Should that bond the two of you have forged ever be lost on you, then you shall fail the test, and lose your purpose as well as your own existence. Do I make myself clear?"

"Y-Yes!" Adol said standing upright.

"Very good," nodded Justice Minister Phosheia, raising up her staff and tapping it against the ground, "In that case, court is dismissed."

With that, Phosheia turned and started walking away, the crowd chattering wildly about the bizarre verdict.

"But wait, what about the process of evolution?" Dana spoke up, "Will it be a problem for it to be without a goddess to keep it under control?"

Phosheia stopped and turned her head to look to Dana with a small smirk, "You leave that to us for the time being. Your other assistants have already said they'll see to things during your leave of absence. Besides, it's just a mere 40 years, what would be a lifetime for mortals is a mere second for us gods, and evolution doesn't proceed that quickly."

"Oh, okay." Dana said, realizing her point.

"Justice Minister, I must protest!" said Lady Xithena, "You're being far too lenient on these four! We cannot allow the other gods to think this kind of thing is okay!"

"Lady Xithena, my time spent on investigating the relationship between Dana and the tomato, as well as the black market, has given me some time to see into both sides of this situation, and it's also given me time to think about our laws, and what we believe as gods."

"What...?"

"Perhaps I dare say we've lived as gods for so long, we've forgotten what it's like to once be human, and that Lady Dana was right; emotions are a vital part of what makes both mortals and gods whole, and discarding one's emotions for the sake of their duties, can be even more dangerous then to have and express them." Phosheia said.

"Justice Minister..." Xithena muttered.

"I think it's time we take a good, hard look on our laws. I think perhaps at this point it's they that may need to change more then anything. We also need to look further into the black market with the new information I've gathered thanks to those four, now come along."

"Very well." nodded Xithena.

"...and later..." the Justice Minister added.

"Yes?"

"I'll have to have a word with you about sentencing defendants without proper due process, and taking bribes of information for reduced sentences." Phosheia said with a dark chuckle.

Lady Xithena's face turned pale as a ghost from fear, but continued to follow.

"Y-Yes Justice Minister..."

The guards and gods soon left the court, leaving Adol, Dana, Olga and Sarai alone, all of them standing there blankly.

"So uh, just to make sure..." Sarai asked the others, "Did we just technically get our crimes waived, and granted permission to live our lives on Earth?"

"It would seem that way..." Olga answered.

"The Goddess of Justice is very kind and very scary..." Dana stated with a blank expression on her face.

"Do I really look like a tomato that much...?" pondered Adol scratching his hair.

"You're still hung up about that?" asked Olga. 

* * *

It was a calm morning as Dogi was standing just on the outskirts of the village he and Adol had been staying at for the past few months, he had just gotten up from sleeping at Mimsy's house and was waiting for his friend Adol to come back after he left yesterday. Dogi couldn't deny he was a bit worried about the guy, despite how little Dogi actually knew about the situation, but knew Adol was a strong enough person to handle himself.

"Hey Dogi, wait up!" shouted a voice.

Dogi turned and grinned to his his best friend Adol come running up to him.

"Hey Adol, good to see you made it! So did everything work out alright?" Dogi asked.

"Yep, are you ready to go back to traveling?"

"Sure am, got the supplies and everything."

"Alright, but before we go, I was wondering if you didn't mind a little extra company on our journey." Adol then said.

"Huh?... Wait, you don't mean-"

"Adol!" shouted a woman's voice. Dogi looked up to see three women running up to the two of them. It was Dana, Olga, and Satai, the main difference with them now was that they had traded in their mystical robes with modest traveler's outfits. Dana had even rearranged her hair into two simple loose ponytails.

"Woah!" Dogi said in surprise, "Well, I guess I lose when it comes to picking up ladies!" he then laughed.

"Dogi, I know you remember Sarai, and this is Dana and Olga." Adol said introducing them.

"Ha, nice to meet ya ladies!" Dogi said with a wave. "Any friend of Adol's is a friend of mine!"

"Hi, it's great to see you again!" said Dana with a casual wave and a smile. Dogi himself was confused by that last word, but shook it off.

"...hello." said Olga, feeling a bit awkward after the time she spent pretending to be Mimsy around them.

"Well you ladies are welcome to come along, but are you any good in a fight?" Dogi inquired.

To answer his question, Dana pulled out a pair of curved swords, and Olga brandished a spear.

"We have a little experience." Dana grinned.

"Woah, nice!" Dogi said, then looked to Sarai who paused for a second, and simply held up a first aid kit.

"Um, I'm well versed in medicine." she said sheepishly.

"Well, I guess this makes us a five-man band then!" Dogi laughed, he then leaned close to Adol and whispered, "So Adol, just so I know, which one of them is your, you know... special friend?"

"Oh, it's Dana," Adol said out loud, pointing to her, "She's my fiance now."

"Whhhaaattt?!" exclaimed Dogi, "Seriously?!"

"Adol!" exclaimed Dana, her face as red as Adol's hair and her blue ponytails standing on end, "Don't go blurting things like that out!"

"I'm so happy for them!" Sarai said swooning.

"I still can't believe he proposed to her on the spot just after we got back here to Earth." Olga muttered.

"Well how about it then, Dana?" Adol changed the subject, walking up to Dana smiling, "You ready to experience this world for yourself?"

"Yep, bound to each other, for eternity." she said, leaning forward to him. She then sported a little grin, "...actually, Adol? There's something you should know..."

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to be a little selfish right now." she said, blushing lightly.

She then took his face in her hands and kissed him square on the lips.

This resulted in Olga's jaw dropping to the ground, Sarai putting her hands to her cheeks and squealing out in happiness, while Dogi was surging with almost literal flames of excitement.

"He's grown up!" shouted Dogi with manly tears flowing down his cheeks, "My little buddy has really become a true man!"

Dana broke the kiss and said, nodded to him, "Okay, I'm ready now!"

"A-Alright, then let's all go!" Adol shouted with a completely red face, "On to adventure!"

And with that he, Dana and Dogi charged ahead down the road, leaving Olga and Sarai in the dust.

"H-Hey, Dana!" shouted Olga desperately, "Slow down and watch your step!" she turned to Sarai and said, "Sarai, say something!"

"Okay, try to keep up Olga!" said Sarai as she ran after the other three. Olga had no choice but to follow them all.

It was that day the red haired hero sealed his bond with the former goddess, a bond would go beyond their mortal lives for eternity...

And the blue-haired girl herself truly began to live. 

* * *

"So where are we going first?" Dogi asked his companions.

"Actually, I kinda wanted to meet everyone from back when you were on Seiren Island." Dana said cheerfully.

"Oh them? Yeah actually, I'd like to have a reunion with them myself." Dogi said, not certain why she wanted to see them specifically, but was glad to have a destination at least, "Maybe they'd be interested in attending your guys' wedding?"

"Sounds good, last I heard, Ricotta and her dad wound up settling down in a town out in the region of Nubrook." Adol said.

"That'd be great, I'd love to see her!" Dana said cheerfully.

"So Nubrook's our first stop then, huh? Alright!" said Dogi.

"Hmm, in that case, according to the map, it would take three days for us to get there by foot, but it would take a single day if we go by ship." Olga observed.

"Uh... ship you say? Maybe we outta just walk..." Dogi said.

"Yeah, walking sounds good..." Adol agreed.

"Hm? The two of you have trouble with boats? Do you get seasick or something?" Olga asked.

* * *

**_\Whew, that was a ride, but it seems everything worked for our heroes! I'm mostly just glad I was able to get this idea printed out. It was a bit of a passion project for me, and I hope you all enjoyed it. _ **

**_Until my next story,... See you later!_**


End file.
